


Magnesium Flint

by satan_copilots_my_tardis



Series: Signal Flares [9]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/F, M/M, Magic, Mystery Trio, Not what he seems, Older!Dipper, Older!Mabel, Some Fluff, Some angst, Some blood and gore, apocalypse prevention, badass!Dipper, badass!Mabel, demons being demons, mystery twins classic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-21 14:23:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 65,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3695648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satan_copilots_my_tardis/pseuds/satan_copilots_my_tardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The twins have always known that Bill’s got his own agenda, that Stan doesn’t tell them everything, that Gravity Falls has changed them. But they’re still not ready to deal with all these things at once. </p><p>In which Bill’s plotting, Dipper’s hurting, Mabel’s hiding, Stanley’s returning, and all the shit is about to hit the fan. section 2 of the Signal Flares series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. everythIng's fine

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to part two, like I said before all this shit is about to hit the fan. rating may change depending on how much violence I end up including.

For the first time in their lives Dipper and Mabel watch the rich green of the forest turn a blazing orange and yellow as autumn rolls in and makes itself at home in Gravity Falls. Of course they notice mostly because they’re standing on the roof defending the Shack from the reborn Summerween Trickster who’s decided to make a special appearance during October but still.

“Mabel we could really use some magic here!” Dipper stresses as he kicks away a candy claw trying to twine around his ankle.

“I can blast it all you want but we’re surrounded by shitty candy Dipper. That’s all Stan buys!” Mabel’s temper is always shorter when she can’t make her enemies burst into flames so Dipper takes the nasty tone with a grain of salt. He can see the sparks dancing over her palms  wanting to flare up but she restrains herself. The last thing they need is a flaming sugar monster trying to kill them. “What about you? Haven’t you read anything useful lately?!”

“Oh sure, you wouldn’t believe the amount of lore on sentient candy monsters. It’s not like they only occur in Gravity Falls or anything!”

“Well it’s got to be made of something Dipper!” She snaps, flicking her wrist and severing the monster’s arm from its body. The Trickster howls but the candy quickly morphs back together. “Demonic energy, ectoplasm, something. Just figure it out big brain!”

“That’s it, oh god that’s it, Mabel!” Dipper shouts and dodges another swiping limb. “I’m going to give you the biggest hug when this is all over!”

“Share with the class brainiac!”

“It’s made of psychic impulses! Everyone hates this candy. Everyone wants it to go away and in a town like this where a group psychosis is so powerful it’s no wonder it actually got up. It just didn’t walk away.”

“Okay, great!” Mabel congratulates him, the edge in her voice softening a little. “But how do we stop it without blowing up everyones heads?”

“Throw up a barrier! Cut off the link!” The baseball bat is a new addition to his hunting gear but he has to admit it comes in handy as bashes a black licorice arm. Unfortunately he misses the one that creeps up from behind him. The world slips out from under him and he writhes in the air as he tries to get his bearings. “Now would be really good, Mabel!”

“Opposuitque convexum!” A barrier snaps up around the entire Shack, glowing a faint lavender. The Summerween Trickster shrieks as its body begins to dissolve. “It’s working Dipper!”

“I see that, but that’s not really a good thing right now!” The arm that was holding him is starting to fall apart and Dipper is painfully aware that he’s dangling over empty air. In the split second it takes for Mabel to turn and make eye contact with him he’s plummeting towards the ground.

“I got him Shooting Star.” Dipper doesn’t even have the chance to feel relief before somethings grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and he’s gagging as his windpipe is crushed. “Seriously Pine Tree, what is with you and falling off this roof?” Bill deposits him back on the ledge next to Mabel.

“Maybe I just like that you always catch me.” He says sarcastically as he rubs at his sore throat.

“Well at least he’s not the one who sent you falling off this time.” Mabel mutters as they survey the copious amount of cheap candy on the yard.

“Now what are we going to do with you?” Dipper asks mostly to himself.

“Burn it.”

“You always want to burn it. Seriously, Bill should have never taught you how to control fire.”

“Shooting Star is the only person I’d teach to control fire like that. Have you seen her burning down her enemies? Radiant, Pine Tree, simply radiant.” Both twins ignore the demon for the time being.

“Can you control the burn well enough not to cause any damage?”

“Course I can bro bro. Now that there aren’t limbs moving everywhere.”

“Well we should get it finished before Stan comes back and before everyone else shows up for the party.”

“I can handle it. You go make sure that everything's finished downstairs.” They first bump before Dipper goes and pushes open the attic window. “ Don’t forget to put out the punch and add the ice!”

“You don’t forget to light the Jack-O-Lanterns when you’re done.”  He slips into their former bedroom. Soos has finished converting it into the breakroom and Dipper notices that there’s a new pinball machine sitting in the corner. The rest of the room is fairly empty, an old couch, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a small ancient TV.  It’s simple like the man who inhabits it. “You showed up a little late to the party.” He adds to his companion, letting Bill float inside before shutting the window behind them. Mabel will levitate to the ground when she’s finished.

“I think I was a bit early there kid. I knew you and your better half could handle a few sentient candy bars.” Dipper raises an eyebrow.

“You’re really just here for the party?”

“I thought it would be a blast. After all this time I can get away with pretending to be a party decoration.”

“Oh no, you’re going to scare the crap out of people.”

“Thats the idea!” The demon responds chipperly.

“I knows this isn’t really going to discourage you, but try not to cause Stan any trouble. He’s been a little stressed lately.” Dipper sighs as he tugs on his boyfriend’s bowtie to draw him in close.

“Cause stress? For Stanford? I wouldn’t ever do such a thing.”

“Uh huh, you’re a saint.”

“Well now that’s just a little insulting, Pine Tree.”  Dipper presses a kiss to the demon’s body.

“Maybe we can go down to the hideout later if you behave.” He shrugs causally. “I reworked the electrical grid once we finished repairing the entrance after the cave-in. It shouldn’t blow again if we get a little carried away.” He fights back a smirk when Bill flares brightly before his coloration darkens slightly, a sure sign the demon is interested in his offer. “But if you’d rather torment Stan all night instead of me then that’s fine. It’s up to you really.” Before Bill can reply there’s an insistent tapping on the window pane. Mabel scowls at him from the other side and shouts through the glass.

“You’re supposed to be getting out the punch! Flirt with your boyfriend later!”

“Alright, alright, don’t burn the house down, I’m going.” Dipper heads down the stairs the next moment. He always feels a little buzzed after something almost kills him. That’s probably not reasonable or healthy but he doesn’t really mind at this point. He’s not in the hospital and neither is anyone he care about and there’s a party on. He should probably have some fun while he can.

* * *

“Welcome to the Mystery Shack Halloween bash!” Mabel greets Manly Dan and his gaggle of redheaded teenagers. “The party is right through the Haunted Mystery Maze! Challenge if you dare!” She gives a few ghostly moans before sending the group, dressed as zombies, onwards through the maze.

“Hey Mabel, looking good.” Wendy says as she approaches after her family is gone.

“Thanks! Have you seen my mallet?!” She picks up the large prop and twirls it around between her fingers.

“Dude how did you do that without breaking your hand? That thing is the size of your torso!” Mabel grins and lifts the large white collar of her Harley Quinn costume to show her amulet hanging from her neck. “Cheating.”

“Whatever, you look really great too, you’re going to break some hearts tonight girl.” The group of friends and family had decided to have a group costume this year and Mabel is thrilled that the homemade Poison Ivy getup is working on the older girl. “Do you want to go through the maze or take the shortcut?”

“Shortcut for sure. Last thing I want to do is watch my dad punch party props, plus I came to tell you that the line’s gone, you can probably close up now.” Mabel whoops and locks the cash box before putting the ‘closed’ sign on the table. “I’m gonna go put this in the office, I’ll be right back.”

“Hey I’ll see you in there, I want to go say hi to everyone before things get too wild.”

“Okay.” Mabel grins and waves the older girl off before heading into Stan’s office. She sets the box on the desk and leaves immediately. This is one of the first times she’s been inside the room. Grunkle Stan has no problem with them hanging out around the house but his office has always been strictly off-limits without his supervision. However since she’s started on as a full-time employee he’s relinquished a key and the single firm instruction that she’s to do her business and leave. No snooping allowed. She walks out of the darkened room and locks the door. Dipper wouldn’t have been able to leave well enough alone. He would have needed to investigate but she’s not interested in getting all and up in Stan’s old man biz. Finished with her work she grins and follows the sounds of a generic Halloween effects mix to the party room.

Things aren’t quite in full swing yet, most patrons still making their way through the maze, so it’s mostly just the family waiting around. Grunkle Stan is still putting price tags on water bottles, dressed as Batman, while Soos is getting the sound system ready in an Alfred costume. She bounces over to them, as bubbly as the villain she’s dressed as, and greets them with a cheerful,

“Hi! Where’s Dipper?”

“Still getting into his dumb costume.” Stan grumbles. “I don’t understand why we’ve got to wear these things.”

“I made them, it’s me and Dipper’s first Halloween here, it’s a party, you’ve made me co-head of the Shack who’s allowed to make some executive decisions, we kept the Shack from being destroyed by a sentient candy monster earlier, you love me, take your pick.”

“Fine.” Stan grumbles and wanders off.

“Dipper’s still upstairs?” Soos shrugs.

“That’s what Stan said but personally I’m noticing an alarming lack of Illuminati triangle demons, so they might have skived off to make-out or something.”

“Oh no they better not have! He’s wearing that costume if I have to stip him and shove him into it myself!”

“You’re being creepy again, loser.” Mabel forgets about Dipper in an instant.

“Pacifica you’re here!” She throws her arms around the other girl and then pushes her away so she can get a good look at what she’s wearing. “Oh you look so good!” Pacifica preens for a minute, enjoying the attention that her Cat Woman costume is getting.

“You look pretty great yourself.” Her partner flicks one of the dangles on her jester's hood.

“Let’s go get Wendy! We can do the whole Gotham City Sirens picture!” She drags the blonde away without a backward glance.

* * *

When Dipper does finally appear wearing his Nightwing costume and cutting a somewhat impressive, although still a little lanky figure, she and Pacifica are still on the dance floor. Pacifica has already verbally eviscerated a few drunk coeds who’ve tried to hit on either of them and Mabel had to physically, or magically, eject a drunk man from the party because he had grabbed her and started grinding on her while refusing to let go. But now the party is winding down. Soos is playing a slow song and all the goblins and ghouls are swaying around, some drunkenly, some exhausted, but all of the energy is being sapped out of the air. Mabel buries her face against Pacifica’s neck. The struggles of the day catching up to her.

“Dipper and I fought a monster this afternoon.” She hears Pacifica sigh and knows that the blonde is looking skyward in exasperation.

“Of course you did. What was it?”

“Summerween Trickster 2.0 looking for revenge. We killed it, it’s all good.”

“Okay party’s over everyone out!” Stan announces and the last few patrons shuffle towards the door. Soon the gang is just standing around the large room, filled with trash and Halloween decorations, looking around like waking from a dream.

“This is a lot of cleaning.” Dipper mutters as they look around.

“To do tomorrow. Lets go put in a crappy horror movie and gorge ourselves on leftover candy.” Stan grumbles and removes his Batman cowl. There’s a round of cheer and Mabel moves to follow everyone else into the living room.

“Wait a second.” Pacifica walks over to the sound system, turns the volume down a little and plays another slow song. “One more dance.” Mabel tenses.

“Nope! I have to pee!” She darts from the room and Pacifica sighs.

“If that’s how you want to play it.” She turns off the music and goes to join the rest of the family in the living room. Mabel can’t run forever.

* * *

November comes with a blast of icy winds that are unnatural for the area but the Pines hardly notice.

“Aim… fire!” Dipper smacks the end of the spoon and the pistachio goes arching through the air and, they all wait for it, right into Soos’s mouth. “Ten points!” He says triumphantly. The Shack is fairly empty today, most people traveling home to see their families for Thanksgiving.

“Nice job Dipper, have you been practicing?” Mabel asks before she hipchecks him out of the way so she can line up her own shot.

“When would I have had time to practice firing seeds at Soos?”

“Good point. Hey aren’t you supposed to be heading to class soon?” Dipper sits in the recently vacated stool and fiddles with his necklace.

“Nope, Dr. Chris said that his driveway is all iced up, and since we don’t have a midterm there’s just not really a point in making us come in so we can stare at each other awkwardly.”

“College is great. You go to way less school than we had to before.”

“Dudes I remember when I tried the college life. It was freaky man, my roommate woke me up one night wearing a wolf mask and asking me to be part of their pack. I was all like, ‘I’m flattered dude, really, but I don’t think wolfhood is for me’.”

“What did he say?”

“Well that was about the time he started howling and then the cops burst in. Turns out it was an actual wolf’s head instead of a mask.”

“Ew.”

“Yeah no, I think I’m going to be sick.”

“You’re dating a demon, Dipper, how do you still have such a weak stomach?”

“Bill doesn’t show up wearing severed animal heads on his body.”

“He probably would if you told him about this.” Mabel fires off another seed and Soos hops a little to snatch it out of the air.

“Which is why we’re not ever going to tell him about this.” He steps up to make his next shot.

“Kids!” The pistachio bounces off of Soos’s forehead.

“Sorry Soos!”

“What’s up Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asks as the old man pops his head around the corner.

“I’m going out tonight, but if anyone asks you I was at home all night watching Baby Fights.”

“Grunkle Stan are you doing something with questionable legality again?”

“Are you doing something with questionable morality?” Stan retorts.

“Well he’s still banging Bill so I think that counts as a yes!” Mabel adds with a grin. Stan and Dipper both cringe.

“Nice one.” Soos presents his hand for a high-five.

“Thank you Soos.”

“Back to the point.” Stan grumbles. “I was here all night, okay?”

“Got it.” They wait until the old man is out of earshot before Dipper flicks a pistachio at Mabel’s head.  “Ow! Hey!”

“Why do you keep pestering me about Bill?”

“Because it’s fun to see what color red you turn.” Mabel digs around in her pockets and reveals a small folded square of paper. “I’m cataloging your blushes.”

“That’s a new level of weird even for you.”

“You’ve just been so happy lately, it seems like a perfect time to notice.” Dipper rolls a seed between his fingers and shrugs.

“Things are just going really well right now.” He admits. “I mean after that nightmare with the Shape Shifter things quieted down a little. We’ve got a regular training schedule, you’re doing really well here, I’m doing well at school, we haven’t been almost killed or sent to the hospital again. I just feel like everything is going well. It’s a good feeling and one we’re not really all that familiar with to be entirely honest.” Mabel shrugs.

“You’re right. Speaking of things going well,” The door opens and the small bell dings. “Welcome to the Mystery Shack! Oddities unlike any you’ve ever imagined await through that door! The tour group will be leaving in five minutes, please feel free to look around our gift shop until then.” She turns back to Dipper. “I’ve gotta go lead the group, we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Sure, have fun.” Mabel plops on one of Stan’s fezzes and walks over to the small group of tourists.

“Excitement and intrigue wait beyond this door! Unlock the secrets of the universe for a small fee.” The tourists clamor and Dipper has to admit Mabel’s really selling it.

“I’ve gotta make sure that everything's stocked for when they get back.” Dipper tells Soos. “We’ll pick this up later.”

“Cool little dude, I’ve got to go fix the ceiling fan anyway.” The large man wanders off and the teenager takes a glance around the quiet shop. He hears a few gasps coming from down the hall and chuckles. Mabel’s theatrics rival Stan’s. Maybe scamming the socks off people is a family trait.

* * *

Dipper doesn’t really get much time alone these days. Between classes, working at the Shack, rooming with his sister, and having an omniscient inhuman boyfriend there’s not a whole lot of places he can go to drop off the grid. Still he does spend the meager free time in the Author’s bunker. After the cave-in when he was seventeen Mabel, Stan, Soos, and himself had come down and rebuilt most of the foundations together and refurbished. At this point the entire building has been pieced back together, though they had made a few additions. There’s a small series of bedrooms, or empty rooms with military cots, a meager infirmary, and the start of his own library on the supernatural. Dipper wants to say it’s a bit more habitable now and that if for some reason someone ever needed to survive down here they could do so in relative comfort for a long time.

Not that he’s thinking this at the moment. No at the moment he’s rubbing his wrists raw as he struggles against the ropes binding him to be bedframe and cursing up a storm. A whine builds up in his throat as he feels the heat traveling in a loop, centering in his chest, pouring out to the very tips of his limbs, before crashing back into his heart. He’s not even sure if it hurts anymore.

“Holy fuck, shit, if you don’t go faster I’m going to kill you, I swear to god--” He groans.

“You’re getting a little worked up there, Pine Tree, maybe I should stop.” Bill sounds far too amused for his own good.

“If you stop I’m banishing you from the Shack for a month!” He snaps before his vision begins to blur blue on the edges. “Fuck, yes.” Comes out hissed through clenched teeth. At one point they’d experimented with toys, being that Bill isn’t really a biological creature and doesn’t have a sex drive so to speak while Dipper very much is and does, but they always come back to this. Dipper’s breathing catches in his throat as his vision goes completely blue. His instincts tell him to shut his eyes, to protect them from the glow and to try and block out the pain, but he forces them to stay open. The flames burst from his eyes at the same time as his orgasm washes over him and he cries out as his body arches.

By the time he comes back to himself the sweat is already cooling in the chill of the bunker air. Bill’s floating over his face, looking equal parts amused and smug.

“Wow Pine Tree, you’re so loud I’m pretty sure Shooting Star heard that over at Pacifica’s.”

“Shut up.” He grumbles half heartedly.

“Seriously I’ve seen you tortured and you’re not nearly as loud, for a second there I thought you might have popped a lung.

“Oh my god shut up.” Dipper flushes before seizes the demon and starts peppering kisses all over his body.

“Stop trying to eat me! I’m not a Dorito!” The human dissolves into laughter and releases the demon just letting Bill settle againt his chest. “We didn’t blow the lights this time.”

“Or break any glass.” Dipper adds.

“Hmm.”

“Bill me fixing the electrical grid is not a challenge--” He doesn’t really get a chance to finish his sentence before he feels flames licking through his skin again.  

“Try, try, try again.” Bill singsongs.

To the demon’s utter joy Dipper has to spend three days-“Three days Bill, this is ridiculous!”-fixing the electrical grid. Unfortunately this leads to Mabel asking where he’s been all this time, which dissolves into teasing and a really embarrassing round of twenty questions while Bill floats just out of reach letting a detail or two that he’d rather keep private slip to the female human. Dipper scowls as he pretends to take inventory of the gift shop. He swears he hates them all.


	2. sour Milk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a disturbance in the force. Mabel investigates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait but because of classes and work I really only get to write on the weekends so that's when most of my updates will happen.

Mabel jolts upright with a gasp. Her heart pounds in her chest as blood roars through her ears and for a long, too long her vision is going black, moment she can’t breathe. The bed begins to hover a few inches off the polished wood floor as she claws at her throat wishing to pry it open from the outside to let in the air. Her hands scratch against her skin uselessly as her head begins to throb and she wonders if the lack of oxygen will make her brain pop like a balloon.

“Mabel!” Pacifica grasps her shoulder. “Oh my god Mabel breathe!” Her hand comes down hard between the other’s shoulder blades. The brunette gives one long loud gasp as she’s finally able to fill her lungs. In a split second she goes from losing touch with the world to having the universe rattling around her skull. The bed drops back to the floor with a thud but she stays floating above. She doesn’t hear the crash or Pacifica’s terrified yelp. All she hears is the crackle of electricity, colorful lights swirl through her vision, and she can hear someone yelling. Her head feels like it's splitting open. The lights are too bright and the sounds too loud and she doesn’t understand where the voice is coming from or why its shouting. A blinding flash goes off behind her eyes and the universe is gone.

She gives a little sigh as she falls back to the bed. The mattress bounces a little as she lands and it’s dark. For a moment she lays, just feeling the coolness of the ridiculously high thread count sheets on Pacifica’s bed, the soft down of the pillows, the firmness of the mattress. Then she feels the tears running down her temples, caught in her lashes, and wetting her hair. A soft hand cups her face and the other wipes away the moisture. Mabel cracks open her eyes and the world is just how she left it before she’d nodded off to sleep.

“You had another nightmare.” Pacifica’s voice is gentle but unsurprised.

“It wasn’t a nightmare.” She lets Pacifica place gentle kisses to her eyelids. “It was definitely more of a ‘disturbance in the force’ kind of deal.”

“I didn’t think you had any powers of foresight.”

“I don’t, I’m not that kind of caster.”

“So then this is a pretty big deal?”

“Yeah, probably.” She curls up against Pacifica’s chest and the shorter girl wraps her arms around her. “I don’t know. I’ve been using a lot of magic lately. I might just be a little hyper aware right now.”

“Maybe you should cut back.”

“As long as nothing tries to kill me again I will. What time is it?”

“A little after four, let’s go back to sleep.”

“No arguments here.” She hear’s Pacifica’s breathing even out after a few minutes but she stares at the ceiling for a long time afterwards convincing herself that she’s just being paranoid. Or perhaps it really had been a nightmare. A strange nightmare that lacked the usual mangled bodies of her friends and family but a nightmare all the same. It’s probably nothing to worry about. That thought doesn’t sit right with her as she fingers the ends of Pacifica’s long hair as she feels her eyes start to droop. She’ll need to deal with it in the morning.

* * *

“I’ve got to get going.” Pacifica says as they finish breakfast together. Mabel gives the other’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“You working with your father today?”

“Yes.” The clipped tone indicates the blonde’s disapproval.

“You’ll be amazing, Huggy Bear.” The terrible pet name gets Pacifica to snort and Mabel grins at her. “Have fun at work.”

“Thanks you too.” Pacifica gives her a quick kiss before grabbing her purse and phone. “Don’t forget to lock up when you head to the Shack.”

“Stop being a worry wort!” She calls to the shadow disappearing down the front hall.

“Stop being a scatter brain!” Mabel smiles to herself before she picks up their plates and takes them into the kitchen. She knows that the Northwest’s have a person for everything but she still can’t bring herself to leave a mess for someone else to clean up. She rinses the dishes before depositing them into the dishwasher. With Pacifica gone there’s no real reason to stick around in the mansion so she gathers her coat, bag and helmet before heading out herself.

The hot pink scooter sits in Pacifica's driveway so often combined with the fact that the driver is never seen without her helmet that the majority of the town has no idea that it belongs to Mabel. It had been one hell of a belated graduation present from her parents. The mid-sized street legal vehicle had really been their way of encouraging her and Dipper to become more independent from each other and she’d been so pleased with the gift she hadn't even bothered to correct them. She and Dipper are entirely separate and independent people already. They pursue their own interests and their own goals, they have their own friends, and they have their own lovers. In Gravity Falls they are entirely themselves even as close as they still are with one another. She starts the engine and dons her helmet before taking off down the long drive. It’s only ten thirty. She has more than enough time to take a detour before she goes into work.

* * *

Mabel pulls over when the dirt road into the forest becomes hiking paths and parks. She slips off the helmet and binds the scooter to the earth to ensure that it stays put and that no one or nothing can tamper with it while she’s gone. Maybe she’s gotten a little paranoid over the years, she’s not really sure it matters, after having so many people actually trying to kill her paranoia seems more like an old friend than worrisome dinner guest. She heads down the leftmost path and walks that way for about ten minutes before hopping over a thistle bush and leaving the trail. She hikes for another half an hour until she comes to the cave entrance. Mabel stands at the mouth for a moment before whistling loudly and then waits another moment as the sound echoes down into the labyrinth before a myriad of roars call back.

She takes a seat on one of the boulders outside the mouth of the cave as she waits for the creature to make his way out into the light. The sun is warm but there’s a sharp chill in the air that’s forced her to don jeans and a heavy canvas jacket and she shivers. She pulls at the fingers of her brown leather gloves and scowls at the sky. This is probably the coldest winter she’s ever experienced and unless they actually get snow she’s pretty sure she’s going to hate it.

“Hello Mabel Pines.”

“Hi Multibear,” She greets as a thought occurs to her. “I didn’t interrupt your hibernation or something did I?”

“No you did not, “ he has a kind voice, grandfatherly almost, and Mabel knows he’s as fond of the twins as they are of him. “What brings you to my cave?”

“I was just wondering if there was anything going on in the forest? I felt something I couldn’t really explain early this morning and I wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

“I have not heard anything to the contrary.”

“Nothing moving around too quickly?” The creature ponders her question for a moment and Mabel shifts around nervously.

“It is said that the Gnomes are abandoning the forest.” She freezes.

“Excuse me?”

“It seems that they are no longer able to grow food on this land and that any food from the town or from other parts of the forest turns to blood in their mouths. Believing they are cursed they wish to leave Gravity Falls in the hope that once they are beyond the city limits the curse will be broken.” There’s a moment of quiet. “I don’t suppose you have anything to do with their plight?”

“Not me.” Mabel replies slowly as her mind is far off. “I’m not that kind of spellcaster.”

“Ah, then only one other could hold such a grudge on the race and be capable of such things.”

“Well they did torture Dipper.”

“His suffering, while it brings me great sadness, lasted only a brief time. This race has been living in torment for years now and if this continues, for we both know they will not be able to leave the forest if he does not allow it, then that entire species will die. It will disrupt the balance of forest, Mabel.”

“Species die all the time Multibear.” She snarls at the dirt. “I wont ask Bill to stop seeking revenge on those vile little atrocities.”

“I am not suggesting you do. Asking a demon often does little good.”

“They deserve every ounce of suffering they get.”

“I believe that the gnome that wronged you perished shortly after the ordeal. Their new leader, a Shmebulock, now ties to direct them down a peaceful path. More than one creature in this forest has made the mistake of attacking you or your brother and you have let many of them live.”

“Not the ones who came close to killing us!” She snarls. “Not the ones that sought us out and dragged one of us from our home to torture until the other made a binding contract! Not the ones who thought it was a good idea to hurt me through my family after THEY WERE WARNED!” The large oak behind her bursts into flames and she flinches back. A wave of her hand extinguishes the flames and she’s left panting looking at the instantaneously charred bark of the tree.

“I only wished to answer your question. Beyond the migration of the Gnomes there has been no other irregular movement within the forest, even the Manitours and Gremloblins are at at rest now. As you noted before winter is approaching and it has grown quite cold quite fast. Many of us wish to slumber through this season. I expect all will be quiet now.”

“Thank you for your time.” Mabel’s voice is softer now, filled with shame at her actions. “I’ll let you sleep, I’m sorry for yelling.”

“Older Pines your brother attempted to slit my throat when we first met. I will not begrudge you for raising your voice.”

“Thank you.”

“Be on your way now, before the chill can set into your bones.” Mabel nods and turns back into the woods. An unpleasant churning in her stomach makes her path home less clear.

* * *

Mabel heads straight home after her meeting with the Multibear. The Shack doesn't open until two today so the parking lot is empty as she pulls around back and parks her scooter. She's entirely unsurprised to find Grunkle Stan sitting in the kitchen like a zombie, string his coffee with a fork and trying to eat his eggs with a spoon. There's a plate of light golden toast with Nutella on it that she knows is for her and she doesn't care that she'd eaten with Pacifica earlier as she snatches it up.

“Hey Grunkle Stan, is Dipper still home?" She can always tell who cooked breakfast based on the eggs. Stan always puts pepper and sage when he cooks them while Dipper in a misguided effort to get them to eat healthy tends to chop up vegetables and hide them in the fluffy eggs. To his annoyance at the end of the meal she and Stan always hand back a plate of extracted plant matter when they're done.  

"He went to that creepy bunker to do his homework. "

"Okay, and try to switch utensils." She adds as she heads towards her and Dipper’s room. Stan grunts inarticulately before she's out of earshot.

Her brother's bed is unmade when she enters and his backpack, dagger, and cell phone are all gone so she doesn't expect he'll be back soon. She locks the door and then spends a few moments focusing her energy and erecting a barrier around the room. She's still not very skilled at this type of precision spell work but she manages all the same. Then she approaches Dipper’s nightstand.

As siblings who have been sharing sharing a room since their conception they've always had a couple of rules to ensure peaceful cohabitation. The most important one was that they were not to poke around in each others stuff. This meant no opening drawers, trunks, boxes, or bags unless given prior permission. For instance she was totally allowed to go into Dipper’s book trunk if she needed something to read,  be it magical or non-magical, and he was allowed in her crafting drawers if he needed scissors or glitter, because they had previously established such boundaries. However the fact that Dipper has so heavily warded this drawer is a bold indicator that he doesn't want anyone snooping around inside it. Normally that would have been enough to make her leave it alone but then she'd realized it was warded against Bill too, Bill specifically, and she'd had to know what was inside. She admits that she had been a little horrified to realize that Dipper has been actively cataloging every underhanded slight that the demon has made in the past seven years but at the moment she’s grateful for his foresight.

Mabel flips through the old book on blood magic that she hasn’t seen in years. She knows the book was one of Bill’s first courting presents but she had never actually read it partially because Dipper hadn’t thought it was a good idea and mostly because she didn’t really find reading about mutilating creatures and making sacrifices to demonic gods a particularly interesting topic. Still she sees a few post-it notes sticking out and being that this is the only book in Dipper’s drawer that concerns curses she starts flipping through it now. The witches of old had a curse for everything, boils, body parts falling off, eyeballs boiling inside the skull, organs turning inside out, all of those curses sandwiched between a few protection spells, devotion rituals, and-

Mabel’s heart rate spikes. On one of the crinkled pages marked with a yellow sticky-note the ritual to create an amulet stares up at her. She could have handled that. She knows what she did, she knows what harm she created and the mark it would leave on her soul, and that’s all fine. But the one word written on the tiny square of paper stuck onto the pages makes her feel like the world is crumbling.

‘Mabel?’

Dipper knows. He knows what she did. He knows that she killed an innocent creature and mutilated more. A younger Mabel would have probably been physically sick with this realization. Now she just sits, hands clammy and throat tight. She takes a deep breath. Dipper doesn’t know, not really, he just suspects. She can live with that as long as he doesn’t look at her differently. As long as he doesn’t start treating her like a monster. As long as he doesn’t make a drawer for her too.

Mabel moves past that page and skims the rest of the book for any useful information. The book isn’t much for background on actually casting or destroying harmful spells as it appears this book would only be used by advanced practitioners. So with a sigh she gather back all of the papers and books and sets about the arduous task of re-warding the drawer. She’ll have to do this on her own.

* * *

Dipper sighs as he highlights another section from his Intro to Sociology textbook. He’s not particularly invested in the class although he does like the subject matter. Perhaps that’s because he’s taking it with Candy and Grenda and the two girls can’t really stop giggling during class about their new adjunct professor. Dipper’s still a little too bummed out about the fact their last professor ran off in the middle of the semester because he got a peek at the raw supernatural universe living in the town. He sighs again and looks down at the page, frowning when he finds that in his distraction he’s highlighted almost the entire page, including footnotes and the page numbers. He puts down the marker and shoves the book back into his school backpack before moving from the common area into the monitoring room.

Dipper takes a quick look at the readings, notes some are slightly high and others have dropped. He marks the differences on his chart but shrugs off the small variations as fluctuations due to the change in the weather. The mystery hunter leans back in the spinning chair and sighs again.

“Jeez kid, what’s got you so blue?” Dipper hadn’t noticed when the demon arrived but he just turns to look at the other being.

“I’m just not looking forward to class today.”

“Well I could destroy the school and you could stay here today.” Bill suggests all too cheerfully.

“Yeah I don’t really want you to do that and I’m not about to stay here with you all day. I just fixed the circuit breaker.”

“Wouldn’t be here with me kid. I just stopped by to tell you I’ve got some business to take care of out of town, if you know what I mean.”

“Not really, but I don’t think you’re going to explain.”

“Right you are, Dipping Dot. Anyway I just wanted to tell you that I’m not going to be available for the next couple of days. I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

“Okay, don’t do anything stupid, Bill.”

“I won’t as long as you don’t, Pine Tree!” Bill replies before he disappears. Once he’s gone Dipper looks back at the dials and meters on the console and sighs one last time before getting up. He should probably go back to the Shack for lunch before he has to get going, provided the demon doesn’t decide to destroy the school anyway, he’s got class.

* * *

Going back to the Gnome City isn’t something that Mabel ever thought that she would find herself doing, but here she is, circling the perimeter again. She takes a moment to make sure that no one is around before she starts climbing up into a tree, hoping to get a bird’s eye view of the Gnomes. When she’s able to peek through the barren web of branches she’s astonished with the state of the creatures.

The Gnomes have never been the most hearty or powerful creatures in the forest but seeing them now is a far cry from the monsters of her nightmares. Their population looks to have dwindled drastically. Where there used to be hundreds there are now only a few dozen. All of the little creatures look haggard, their faces sallow and gaunt, their clothes ragged and torn. The city itself is still run down and she can see the wide berth they give the tree, larger now, where Dipper was chained and the stump that Jeff used to stand on.

“Schmebulock!” The other creatures seem to know what the Gnome of the same name is telling them to do and begin to disperse. Mabel watched for almost an hour as the Gnomes roam around the area before they form what she thinks is a soup line and each take take a meager portion of thin broth with small chunks of something white in it. It’s dismal.

With as frustrated growl Mabel feels out the source of the curse. Normally locating a magical object takes several hours for her to achieve. As most things in the forest give off a low magical signature untangling the signals takes more concentration than she usually gives. But she locates the source almost instantaneously now. The tree stump in the middle of the clearing all but pulses with malicious energy. It fills the air with misery and eats hope and Mabel thinks that it's going to devour her whole.

She casts the spell before she really has time to reconsider her decision. The fireball descends on the city and the Gnomes run screaming. Her aim is perfect and the ball of flames hits and begins to incinerate the stump. A shriek fills the air as the curse is burned away. Mabel doesn’t stick around as the Gnomes scramble to get the fire put out. The curse is gone and she refuses to be near the monsters anymore. The brunette shimmies down the rough tree trunk and drops to the ground when she’s hanging about three feet above it. Mabel glances at her watch. The Shack will open soon so she decides to head back.

“Shmebulock.” Her shoulders tense and she goes still for a long moment. “Shmebulock.” The voice is small and gentle. Mabel glances over her shoulder at the little monster.

“You won’t die of starvation now, but if you come near me or my family again I will personally burn your city to the ground.”

“Shmebulock.” She doesn’t know what the new Gnome king is saying but his tone sounds apologetic. Mabel grits her teeth and heads on her way without a backward glance. If she’s lucky she’ll never have to see another Gnome again. She snorts. Who’s she kidding? If there’s one things Pines don’t have it’s good luck.

* * *

“Hey.” Dipper greets Mabel from the table as she comes in through the side door.

“Hey, did you finish your homework?”

“More or less. You look a little stressed, you okay?” She’s completely unsurprised that he immediately notices the lackluster way she’s carrying herself.

“More or less.” Mabel chews the inside of her cheek, a habit she’d picked up once her hair became too short to chew on, and leans up against the counter. “I had a pretty bad spook this morning.”

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I just got woken up really early. It was a total Jedi Alderaan has been lost kind of moment.”

“We should investigate.”

“Already did bro bro.” She moves over to the fridge and pulls out her carton of chocolate milk before hopping up onto the counter next to the sink. “I went and talked to Multibear and he said that nothing abnormal was happening, and then I took a walk and didn’t feel anything off in the forest. I don’t know. I might have just been overreacting to a nightmare or something.”

“Well the readings were slightly elevated in the Bunker.” Dipper taps his fingers against the tabletop as he thinks.

“Uh huh, how elevated?”

“Like two points.” He admits sheepishly.

“It’s a disaster, oh god what are we going to do?” She remarks sarcastically.

“Hey, I’m just trying to make you not feel so crazy.”

“Yeah well thanks for the effort but I already know I'm nuts.” Mabel takes a sip from the milk and her mouth contorts. Before Dipper can ask what’s wrong she’s spit out the liquid into the sink and has turned on the faucet. She rinses her mouth after making a few strangled gagging noises. “That was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted! And I’ve eaten Soos’s pork chops!”  

“Did you just drink expired milk?” Dipper’s voice is half strangled as he tries to hold in his laughter.

“If you laugh I swear I’ll cut your bangs in your sleep and expose your birthmark for all the world to see.” She hisses into the sink as her stomach rolls.

“Jeez, you can be really scary sometimes.” Her brother mutters under his breath. “Just go brush your teeth if that’ll help. I’ll dump the milk before I head to class.”

“Thanks.”

“Maybe you were just having doomed feelings about this. Which is kind of an overreaction. I mean seriously don’t cry over spilled milk.” She turns ans glares at Dipper’s shit-eating grin.

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah, I know it was bad.”

“Horrible.”

“Yup. Now go brush your teeth, Stan’s going to be looking for you any minute. I’ll see you after class.” Mabel follows Dipper’s advice and spends a good five minutes scrubbing the taste of sour milk out of her mouth. For a couple of minutes she debates about eating the entire tube of toothpaste like she had done on occasion when she was younger. But she ultimately decides that doing so will only make the rolling in her stomach worse so she puts back her toothbrush and heads down into the gift shop. Stan is already gathering customers for the first tour of the day and Soos is temporarily holding her spot at the register.

“Hey Hambone.”

“Hey Soos, thanks for covering for me. I ran into Dipper in the kitchen.”

“No problem Mabel.” She’s about to ask if he’s beaten level twenty-three on his new game when one of the patrons shouts,

“Wormy dance!” Well now she just has to doesn’t she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've probably guessed it by now but events of Not What He Seems are happening very soon so if you haven't seen it yet there will be spoilers.


	3. not what he seemS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything was going fine until suddenly it wasn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited incorporation of NWHS obviously there will be some differences considering the different time that these events are taking place and there will be spoilers for NWHS if you haven't watched that yet. Also NWHS evens are going to be separated into two chapters.

“Finally everything changes.” Stan leans back in his chair and watches as the machine works for a few moments. His chest tightens and he’s not sure if it’s anticipation, relief, or an oncoming heart attack. He’s not even sure it matters. He spends an hour in the lab, just watching the clock tick down before he finally decides to head back upstairs.

Stan walks softly, trying not to wake up the kids. He knows he’ll have to talk to them in the morning but for now he just wants to let them sleep. It’s been a hard seven years for them. He never imagined that by agreeing to take them in for one summer that all of their lives would change so much. He’d only wanted to get to know his grand niece and nephew, but when he realized just how much they reminded him, how similar their bond was to…. He should have known that they wouldn’t be able to stay away from the supernatural. He should have protected them better and the fact that Bill Cipher of all creatures had done so better than he had turns his stomach sour.  

He takes great care in opening the door. He knows that Mabel has a hair-trigger response to any disturbances at night, so paranoid now that something will happen to one of them, and that if he makes one wrong move he’ll probably end up thrown through the Shack wall or incinerated. Both the twins are sleeping peacefully. Dipper is curled onto his side with the covers pulled up to his ear. One arm dangles off the edge of the bed and a book lays open on the nightstand between their beds. Mabel is starfished out across her mattress, short thick hair trying to devour her face and pillow, with Waddles squished up against her. Stan watches her amulet, still stuck in her hair on a headband, glow softly in the dark. They’ve grown up so fast. They’d grown up too steeped in Gravity Falls. He should have protected them more.

Stan shuts the door quietly before creeping down the hall to his own bedroom. There’s still time for them to slumber on peacefully. He won’t disrupt that. He climbs into his bed and stares up at the ceiling, doubtful that he’ll get to sleep now. Tomorrow. Tomorrow finally everything will change.

* * *

Stan is already up and in the kitchen when Dipper and Mabel appear, sleep rumpled and yawning.

“Hey kids, I made pancakes.” That puts a smile on Mabel’s face.

“Woot!”

“Thanks Grunkle Stan.” The kids sit down and Stan brings over the platter of food and they begin to eat. “It’s Saturday so I don’t need to do any schoolwork and Bill’s ‘out of town’ so I can help out in the shop all day today.”

“Well that’s nice but I was thinking of leaving the shop closed today.” Twin pairs of brown eyes widen and stare at him. The lump of pancake on its way to Mabel’s mouth falls off her fork.

“What? But you never close the Shack on a Saturday.” Dipper’s voice is slow and astonished.

“Yeah, Grunkle Stan! Are you feeling alright?” Mabel presses the back of her hand against his forehead and he laughs.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking that we don’t spend enough time together like we used to. Maybe we could have a family day.” Dipper and Mabel both smile.

“That sounds good.”

“Great, so what do you kids want to do?”

“Movies?” Dipper suggests.

“No way, bro bro, you’re thinking too small!” Mabel says with a shake of her head.

“Okay then what do you have in mind?”

“You’ll see.” She rubs her hands together sinisterly. “You’ll all see! Mwhahahahah!” The two male Pines glance at each other with mild concern before both scoot their chairs a little further away from the cackling girl.

“On that note should I have the first-aid kit on hand?”

“Probably.” She replies in a much more calm tone.

“Lovely.”

The group finishes breakfast with amiable chatter and before long Stan is waving them off to get dressed while he cleans up the kitchen. Dipper keeps giving him concerned glances but he ignores it. Dipper’s always suspicious. Stan puts the mixing bowl in the sink and pulls out his phone while it fills with warm water. He hits the third number on his speed dial and listens to it ring twice before he’s answered.

“Hey Mr. Pines, what’s up?”

“I was just calling to let you know that you’ve got the day off.” He informs his longest employee. “The kids and I are hanging out today so you don’t need to come in.”

“Okay have fun, see you tomorrow Mr. Pines.”

“Bye Soos.” He hangs up and starts in on the dishes. He glances at the countdown. He doubts anything will be open tomorrow.

* * *

“Fireworks?” Dipper asks as Mabel presents them the box once they’ve climbed up onto the roof.

“Not just fireworks, I got half a dozen Roman Candles!”

“Oh man no way, that’s so dangerous.” But her brother is starting to smile and Grunkle Stan is laughing.

“You can’t have a Roman Candle fight on the roof.”

“But we can have one on the ground!” Mabel gives Dipper one hard shove and he’s toppling off the roof.

“God damn it Mabel!” He shouts as she catches him with a flick of her wrist as he hovers a few inches off the ground.

“It’s not like I’m actually going to drop you.” Mabel says before she jumps from the roof. “Besides I would have thought you’d be used to getting thrown off the roof by now.”

“Having your life flash before your eyes isn’t something you just get used too.” He grumbles.

“Enough bickering, warriors take up your weapons!” Stan shouts from the roof and both kids grab a candle with a smirk.

“We doing this wizard style or gladiator style?” Dipper asks.

“Both! Bow, five paces back, turn and shoot! But Stan gets to decide if the winner lets their opponent live or if they get a water balloon to the face!”

“A water balloon, really? It’s freezing out here.” The younger twin points out sensibly.

“Whiners get water balloons to the face!” Before Dipper can react Stan has thrown the balloon and icy water is exploding against his chest. He yelps as Mabel and Stan laugh.

“Oh it is so on!”

“Take positions!”

“You’re going down.” Mabel says as they bow.

“You’re going down harder.”

“Rise, turn and walk.” Stan instructs with a snicker. “Mabel destroy Dipper for your Grunkle!” Mabel laughs maniacally. “Fight!” Both twins light the explosives with a flare of magic and the battle begins.

* * *

The structure of the battle quickly disappears and soon the twins are just chasing each other around with the fireworks and trying to avoid the water balloons thrown by Stan. The yard is filled with shrieking and laughter and when they run out of fireworks Mabel takes to just shooting fireballs at Dipper while he deflects them with shields. She raises her hands above her head, amulet glowing brightly, as she creates the largest flame between her hands.

“I am the god of destruction!” She throws the ball at Dipper who catches the ball within a barrier and throws it right back at her. “Uh oh.” Mabel rolls out of the way as the fireball hits the ground where she was just standing and burns away at the withered grass.

“Okay I don’t know about you but I can’t keep this up.” Dipper says, hands starting to hurt and skin starting to redden.

“Yeah, I’m all tapped out.” She agrees even though she suspects she could keep using for a few more hours without growing tired.

“We should probably clean up this mess.” Stan says as he looks around at the small fires burning away on the property.

“With the rest of the water balloons?” Mabel asks and he shrugs.

“I don’t see why not.” The girl gives a joyous whoop before she levitates the cooler full of balloons to the ground and starts to throw them cheerfully at the fires and at Dipper. “You two get along too well for your own good.” Stan chuckles after he's finished relocating himself to sitting on the porch. “It’s unnatural.”

“Watch out Stan, you’re going to start sounding like our parents.” Dipper warns as he throws a water balloon at Mabel.

“Besides we drive each other just as crazy as other siblings do.” She nails her brother in the face with a balloon and Dipper sputters for a moment before glaring at her.

“Yeah no arguments here.” He shivers and Stan laughs.

“Alright I think that’s enough.” Stan frowns slightly, glancing at his watch. “Hey kids, there’s something I want to tell you,” Both teenagers turn and look at him and there’s an innocence in their faces that he hasn’t seen in a long time. “It’s, um, well it’s kind of complicated.” He feels like he’s looking at the awkward twelve year olds who arrived on his doorstep seven years ago and his chest gets tight. He clears his throat. “Why don’t you two go get into something dry and I’ll make some hot chocolate and we’ll talk then.” The siblings head inside without complaint and Stan follows behind. He goes into the kitchen and gets out three mugs before digging around in the pantry for the hot coco mix. “They’ve got to find out sooner or later. Today’s the day.” A red dot appears on the chest of his suit and travels up to his forehead. “What the heck is that?” A dozen more dots join the first. “What the? Oh no.” The side door bursts open and he’s tackled roughly to the floor.

“Target secure!”

“Stan?” Dipper and Mabel appear at the bottom of the stairs for a split second before they are also being manhandled.

“Kids secure!”

“What’s going on?” Mabel asks, the gem in her hair glowing brightly. Dipper gives her a sharp look and the stone dims slightly. Masked men run through the house.

“Living room secure!”

“Second floor secure!”

“Pig secure! We have secured a pig!”

“Waddles!” The brute who tackled him now forces him up to his feet and pushes him out the door, directing him over to one of the many black cars scattered around the Shack.

“What did I do to warrant this much arresting?”

“The government guys?” Stan looks up at Dipper’s exclamation. “I thought you guys were eaten by zombies years ago.”

“We survived. Barely.” Agent Trigger says bitterly.

“I used Agent Trigger as a human shield.” Powers says, jabbing a thumb in the other man’s direction. “He cried like a baby.”

“Hey not in front of the special ops guys.”

“This is footage from a government waste facility. Last night someone stole three hundred gallons of hazardous waste.”

“What you think that was me?” Damn he hadn’t expected anyone to catch on so quickly.

“Don’t play dumb with us Pines.”

“What, but, but I actually am dumb.” The agent who handcuffed him starts to lead him forwards. “I was here last night stocking the gift shop! I swear!”

“Wait Grunkle Stan!” Mabel calls out before turning pleading eyes on the government agents. “You’ve got the wrong guy, Stan wouldn’t steal from the government!” Mostly, she thinks, because he’s not actually dumb enough to risk bringing this much heat down on himself. “He’s not some evil mastermind.” Especially since their resident evil mastermind is out of town on demonic business.

“Listen girl,” Both twins bristle at the way Powers addresses Mabel. “We’ve been watching your family for years and we’ve seen some disturbing things.” He eyes them both critically. “But nothing as dangerous as what your uncle is hiding. Somewhere hidden in this shack is a Doomsday device!” Mabel and Dipper share a significant look. “Trigger you take the kids and meet us downtown, I’ll go with Stanford.” He glances at the two teenagers. “Hate to break it to you but you don’t know your uncle at all.” He walks off and Trigger snaps his fingers and in a moment the twins are being shoved into a black SUV. They look out the window and Stan is staring back at them with obvious distress.

“Kid’s you’ve got to believe me, this isn’t what it looks like! I’m innocent!” The car starts and they’re left staring at their Grunkle’s shrinking figure.

* * *

“Where are you taking us?” Dipper growls.

“Downtown. We’d like to question you about your Uncle’s whereabouts.”

Mabel’s mouth is a thin line of displeasure and she turns to look at Dipper. He knows that this entire time she’s been restraining herself. If she hadn’t he’s pretty sure that she would have thrown the agents through a wall when they’d assaulted all of them in the Shack.

“Dipper this is crazy there’s no way Stan would be stealing hazardous waste.” She hisses under her breath. Dipper hums thoughtfully, his eyes spotting the camera pointed at them.

“That’s it. If we can get back to the Shack we can pull up the surveillance tapes and prove Stan was restocking the gift shop last night.”

“Good. Now we just have to get out of here.” Her eyes narrow as the amulet starts to glow. “You’re wearing your seatbelt, right?”

“Of course. Try not to kill him,” he indicates the agent driving. “He’s just doing his job.”

“I know.” Mabel takes a deep breath and then the car jerks as a loud explosion fills the air and soon they are skidding across the road. Agen Trigger yells as he tries to regain control of the car but they go sailing through the guardrail and down into the trees below. Dipper’s seat belt keeps him safely pinned in his seat but his head still manages to get whacked against the window when they come to a sudden stop. He blinks his blurry vision for a moment and spots Agent Trigger pinned down by a tree branch that’s smashed through the window. Mabel unbuckles their belts and pushes the back doors open with a tiny pulse of magic and they both scramble out of the car.

“Haha yes!”

“Backup, requesting--” Dipper rips the headset from Trigger’s ear and smashes it with one quick stomp.

“Come on Dipper let’s go clear our Grunkle’s name.”

“Ah you poor kids, you really think your uncle’s innocent? Come on, I’ve seen it all before, false names, double lives, one minute they’re making hot coco, the next they’re building a Doomsday device.” Dipper bristles. “Your uncles a con man, he’s been conning the whole world, are you really dumb enough to let him con you too?”

“Shut up.” He mutters as he follows Mabel’s determined steps. He’s been preparing for betrayal since they were fifteen, but it’s not their Grunkle he’s been worried about. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re going to regret this!” Dipper scowls at the dirt. Maybe he should have been worried about betrayal a little closer to home.

* * *

They take the Multibear’s series of tunnels back to the Shack to avoid the feds. They don’t speak much on their way back, Dipper stewing in doubt and Mabel in self-righteous fury, but it doesn’t take too long before they’re coming out into the woods surrounding the Shack. There are government agents crawling the grounds and they crouch in the bushes on the edge of the perimeter watching as the agents run around like black ants on a picnic blanket.

“Don’t suppose you know an invisibility spell so we can just walk right past them?”

“Nope, sorry. Actually I don’t think that those spells exist.” Mabel watches the door. “How’s your karate? Because I can take out those two guard guys and you karate chop that one in the throat, and then we’ll backflip through the front door.”

“I think there’s probably an easier solution.” He knows that she keeps her grappling hook on her at all times.

“Oh, right.” She takes the shrunken object out of her pocket and resizes it. “Grappling hook!” She fires with perfect aim and in moments they’re ziplining through the previously broken window into the attic break room.

“Come on lets get down to the office.” He whispers as they creep across the floor and down the stairs. They reach the room without being spotted and Mabel opens the door and they rush inside. She immediately goes over to the jackalope and tugs on the antler while Dipper puts up a few wards around the door in the hopes it will keep the agents from paying any attention to the room.

“The tape's already in.” Mabel presses play and the screen flickers to life with her and Soos in the gift shop dancing. Dipper raises one judgmental eyebrow. “Someone said wormy dance. We had to.” She fast forwards a little. “I would also like to point out that my whole feeling like the world was ending yesterday was totally right and that next time you think of making fun of my cosmic powers, don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah, you were right. Wait stop, this is it.” The time stamp on the screen says ten thirty pm and there Stan is, stocking the gift shop. “There! Stan was telling the truth. He’s just restocking.”

“Wait a second.”

“Oh no.” They watch with mixed horror and despair as Stan turns and leaves the shop. “Stan you didn’t.”

“Maybe he’s just going to the bathroom, outside. Like nature intended.” Mabel suggest with false cheerfulness. They fast forward a bit more until they’re watching a man in a hazmat suit cart in barrel after barrel of toxic waste. “That’s not necessarily Stan, that could be anyone. We can’t see their face.” They watch as the recording accidentally lowers the last barrel of toxic liquid off the dolly and onto their foot.

“SON OF A BITCH!”

“That’s Stan.” The twins say in unison.

“So he lied to us.” Dipper says with a tightness in his chest.

“We don’t know what’s going on Dipper. Maybe Stan was trying to tell us about this earlier and he just never got a chance. We can’t just jump to con-”

“Wait, look at that!” The surveillance tapes flare brightly before image dissolves and they’re looking at a blank screen. However the tiny speakers still play the sounds of whatever was happening last night.

“Well well well, tomorrow’s the big day is it Stanford?”

“Bill?” Mabel questions immediately recognizing the demon’s unique voice. “I thought you said he was out of town?”

“He was supposed to be.” Dipper’s voice sounds far away as he stares at the black screen.

“Get out of here Cipher, I’ve told you a thousand times I don’t want you involved with this!”

“Aw come on Pines, I’m just trying to help out. I feel just awful about what happened all those years ago. Just let me help so I can make it up to you.”

“No way in hell Cipher. Now get out before I banish you out!”  

“Alright, alright. I’m going, no need to break out the banishing charms. Have a pleasant reunion.” The speakers buzz with static and then the picture is back. Stan is standing in the gift shop surrounded by toxic waste looking furious. He throws the hood of the hazmat suit to the ground before grumbling and picking it back up before moving off-screen. Dipper and Mabel sit in silence for a long moment.

“There has to be an explanation for this.” Mabel begins to pace. “Just because he stole some toxic waste doesn’t mean that he’s leading some nefarious double life.” Dipper spots an old shoe box under the monitor and pulls it out. He opens the lid and flips on the nearby lamp and begins to search through the contents.

“I’m not so sure about that.” He waves her over. “Look at this.” The box is full of fake IDs.

“What is all of this? Stetson Pinefield?”

“Hal Forester?”

“Andrew ‘8-Ball’ Alcatraz?”

“These are all fake IDs, why would you need a fake ID unless you were trying to hide your identity?”

“Come on Dipper, I have a fake ID.” His head swivels around.

“What? You do?”

“Yeah, sometimes me and Pacifica like to go to the city and club.” Dipper stares at her for a long moment and her cheeks get hot. “Well don’t give me the judgmental eyes, what was your boyfriend doing asking to help Grunkle Stan with whatever this toxic waste was for?”

“Don’t turn this around on me, we’ve always known Bill’s more than a little shady. I think it’s more worrisome that I remember hearing something like this before.” Dipper frowns into the box.

“You have? When?”

“When we came back after we turned sixteen. I went around to find Bill and overheard him talking with Stan. At the time I thought they were just talking about the fireworks but now I’m not so sure. Bill knew that Stan was doing something and asked if he wanted some help and Stan said no, and that he would never willingly let Bill so close to something that dangerous ever again. If they were talking about the same thing they were last night that means that Stan’s been planning this for at least three years if not longer!”

“But Stan wouldn’t build a Doomsday device, he just wouldn’t Dipper.” Mabel paws through the box some more and withdraws a newspaper clipping. “‘Stan Pines Dead’?!”

“What?” Dipper looks over her shoulder at the clipping. “Pines dead...car crash...foul play suspected?!” They withdraw another clipping. “Unnamed Grifter at large?”

“Why would they say ‘unnamed’? Unless,”

“Stan isn’t Stan?” They say in horrified unison. Both glance up at the portrait of their Grunkle, a sinking feeling in their guts.

* * *

“So we have no idea who Stan really is and we’ve been spending years with him.”

“Well he has to be our Grunkle Dipper, I mean he knows Mom and Dad, he knows all of our family, and no one ever suspected him as anyone else!” Mabel paces about the room. “Maybe he faked his own death.” She gets a skeptical look from her brother. “Oh come on, what better way to commit tax fraud than pretending not to be alive?” Okay, Dipper will admit that does sound like something Stan would do.

“Okay fine, even if all of that’s true, what is he doing with the toxic waste? It’s not like he hid it under the gift shop rug like his arrest warrants, so where is it?” He feels bad when Mabel’s shoulders slump. “That by itself proves that he’s got a lair somewhere around the Shack and we have to find it!”

“Okay, okay, you’re right. But how? The feds have been combing this place for hours and they haven’t even found it yet.”

“You’re the magic supergirl, you tell me. If something that powerful is gearing up, even if it’s run through conventional science and not magic, you’d be able to feel it.”

“Right, right!” Mabel plops down on the floor and takes a few deep breaths. “Okay, just give me a minute.”  Dipper lets her work, pacing back and forth across the hardwood floor. Whatever’s going on it's bigger than he’d thought. It’s worse than he’d thought. Heat bubbles under his skin. Stan should have told them. He could have told them. Did the man really think after all they’d been through together they wouldn’t at least try to hear him out? He wants an explanation so badly it curdles his stomach. But an explanation isn’t good enough now. Not when Dipper knows that Stan’s been lying to their faces all day. Not when he knows Stan’s been hiding this from them for years. He needs answers and he can’t reach Stan to question or even trust his responses at this point.

Dipper digs out a handful of signal flares from his pocket and snaps one. Bill’s not exactly the most trustworthy being to give them answers but any information at this point would be welcome. He waits a moment and nothing happens. He snaps another. Bill doesn’t appear. He breaks another disk. Then another. He gives a frustrated growl as he snaps amber piece after amber piece until the floor around him is littered with gold. Of course. He’s always known that one day Bill wouldn’t come. Of course it just has to be the day he needs the demon most. He stomps on the coin fragments until they’re dust. He hears a commotion from the other side of the door and moves closer to listen.

“Stanford Pines escaped custody! All units are mobilized!” Rapid footsteps leave the house and after a long moment the Shack sounds silent and empty.

“I found it!” Mabel says as she jumps up.

“Let’s go.” Dipper destroys the wards and opens the door. “Where is it?”

“Right under the Shack. This way.” Mabel leads them through the Shack and into the gift shop. Both startle when they spot Soos, standing in front of the vending machine talking to himself.

“...Get adopted by Stan, change name to Stan junior--”

“Soos?” The older man startles.

“Little dudes, thank goodness, are you alright?”

“Dipper it’s definitely behind the vending machine.” Mabel confirms his thoughts.

“What are you doing here Soos?”

“Stan called me and told me to protect this machine with my life!”

“Soos we need to take a look at that.” Dipper stresses, trying to go around the man child.

“We have to prove this is all just a big misunderstanding.”

“Sorry little dude, I can’t let anyone come near it.” Mabel glances at Dipper before moving forward.

“It’s okay Soos, we understand.” Mabel sticks a hand into her pocket and Dipper takes a step back before she’s blowing the substance into Soos’s eyes.

“AH! Attack glitter! It’s pretty but it hurts!” Mabel flicks her wrist and immobilizes the large man before she and Dipper approach the machine.

“Can you try to move it?” He asks.

“Course I can.” Mabel waves her hand. The vending machine stays firmly in place. Mabel waves her hand again, amulet glowing brightly.

“Come on dudes let me go.” Soos whines from his immobilized position on the floor.

“Give us a sec Soos.” Mabel says distractedly. She tries one last time, putting enough force behind the spell she could have thrown a mid sized car across the lawn but still the machine doesn’t move. “I can’t move it Dipper, but whatever Stan’s hiding is definitely below this!” Dipper stares at the machine for a long moment.

“It’s okay Mabel. Let me try something.” His hand hesitates over the keypad. Dipper takes a deep breath, almost afraid to be right, and types in the code. The vending machine creaks before it slides out of the way with a burst of smoke, revealing a hidden passage.

“Whoa how did you do that?” Soos asks and Mabel lets him stand.

“I knew the code.” His throat is tight.

“How did you know the code?” Mabel inquires. “We didn’t even know this was here!”

“Bill told it to me. As my graduation present. He said I’d know what it meant when I needed it.”

“Guess he was right.” Mabel murmurs as Soos takes point and they start down the hidden passage.

“It’s like something out of a videogame.”

“Or a dream.” Dipper hesitates at the top of the stairs for a moment before following after them.

“Or a nightmare.”


	4. eye Opening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stanley's back, Bill's an ass, and Mabel's out, Peace! In other words how things can go from bad to worse, an autobiography by Dipper Pines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conclusion of NWHS

They enter the strange service elevator and ride it down into the lab below. No one speaks for a long moment as the grated doors slide open. Dipper looks around and scowls.

“I don’t believe it.” Soos says with wide eyes and a stunned voice.

“This all looks exactly like the Author’s bunker.” Dipper glares at the machinery.

“Come on it can’t be exactly like that.” Mabel says with false cheerfulness so Dipper turns his glare on her. “Okay so Grunkle Stan has a huge underground lab, that doesn’t mean anything.” She meets Dippers stare with a level look of her own. “Everybody’s got secrets.” Mabel spots a collection of framed pictures on the console of the control panel. There’s one from their first fishing trip together, the selfie the twins sent him on their seventeenth birthday, their graduation picture, and a shot of them all sitting on the porch drinking a Pitt that she knows was taken just after they’d finished moving in. She picks up the one taken when they were twelve. “It’s still Stan, and he loves us. There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for all this.”

“What? No. No!” Mabel startles at Dipper’s venomous tone and follows his line of sight to the small counter next to the console. “The first journal? All this time, all this time he had it all along?! I don’t believe it!” Dipper paces off a few steps. “Was anything he ever told us true?!” The force of his anger causes the room the loose items around the room to shake. “Why would he have that journal!?”

“Maybe he’s the Author?” Soos offers tentatively.

“Or maybe he stole it from the Author!”

“What? Dipper you’re being dumb.”

“Am I Mabel? He told me once that he knew the Author, and he refused to answer anymore questions. Maybe he stole the journal from the Author and then got rid of him and he has that box full of fake IDs because he is a master criminal and this machine,” he indicates the swirling vortex on the other side of the observation glass. “Is his master plan!” While Mabel and Soos are stunned silent Dipper extracts the other two journals from his bookbag and opens them up to the blueprints before taking out his handheld blacklight.

“Dipper this could still all be a misunderstanding. Sometimes people do really bad things for the people they love.” There’s a deep sorrow in Mabel’s voice but Dipper ignores her and switches on the light.

“‘I was wrong the whole time. The machine was meant to create knowledge but it is too powerful! I was deceived and now it is too late. The device if ever made fully operational could tear our universe apart! It must not fall into the wrong hands. If the clock ever reaches zero our universe is doomed’.” All three look to the timer above them.

“It’s the final countdown just like they always sung about!” Dipper ignores Soos’s hysterics for the moment and flips through the journals until he finds what he’s looking for.

“We’ve got to shut it down, look, here!” He points at the image inked on the page. “A manual override!”

“Come on!” Mabel grabs his hand and tugs him down the steps and into the room with the machine which is opening what Dipper suspects is an interdimensional portal. It looks just like the one the floating eyeballs used to get home, a rainbow of color swirling around the edge of the blindingly white center. He tears his eyes away first and spots the override.

“There!” He tugs on Mabel’s hand and Soos follows them over. “We all need to turn these keys at the same time.” He waits until everyone has a hand on a key. “Now!” The three keys click into place and a loud alarm sounds. All three spin around to locate the source of the noise and watch as with a small puff of smoke the shutdown switch is revealed.

“That’s it!” They run over to the button. “This all stops now--!”

“Stop! Don’t touch that button!” Dipper’s head whips towards the door where Grunkle Stan is standing. He looks like a mess, suit torn, eyes wide with dark circles underneath, and a look of distress Dipper can only compare to how he watched over them after he and Mabel had been attacked by the Shape Shifter. It tugs on his heart but he just scowls back at the man. A beat of silence, only punctuated by the old man’s panting, passes before Stan raises his hands in front of him in a placating manner and walks inside. “Dipper just back away.” He bristles and looks back at the button. “Please don’t press that shutdown button, you've gotta trust me.”

“And I should trust you why? After you stole radioactive waste? After you’ve lied to us for seven years?!” His voice raises and feels the hysteria creeping in past the rage. “I don’t even know who you are!”

“Look I knows this all seems nuts,” Stan pleads, “But I need that machine to stay on. If you just let me explain--” A rapid beeping fills the air and Stan glances down at his watch. “Uh oh, brace yourselves!” He warns urgently but it's already too late. The universe shifts and suddenly everything not held down is floating. Dipper, the dorky kid he’s always been, used to wonder what it would be like in zero gravity. At this moment he concludes it’s a huge pain in his ass. The group gives a collective shout as they are all sent tumbling through the air. Dipper reaches out and grabs hold of one of the support beams to stabilize himself before he looks around for the others.

“T-minus thirty-five seconds.”

“Dipper!” Mabel shouts and he looks over to see her, ankle wrapped up in one of the loose cords that had been lying by the button.

“Mabel, hurry shut it down!” She nods, eyes going hard as she catches the cable in hand and uses it to drag herself down to the button.

“No!” Stan launches himself off the wall and begins to swim through the air towards Mabel just as she wraps herself around the shutdown switch to keep grounded. “Mabel, Mabel, wait, stop!” Soos collides with Stanford’s body and begins to throw punches blindly. “Ow! Soos what are you doing?! I gave you an order!”

“I’m sorry Mr. Pines, if that is your name, I have a new mission now! I’ve had a new mission for years and it’s to protect these kids!” If the universe wasn’t about to end Dipper would be a little touched.

“Soos you idiot let me go!” Dipper launches himself at the two and collides with them as well.

“Mabel press the red button! Shut it down!” He orders as he and Soos try to subdue Stan.

“No you can’t!” There’s a desperation in the old man’s voice that Dipper doesn’t want to hear, “Mabel honey you’ve got to trust me!”

“Grunkle Stan,” Dippers heart seizes when he hears the fear in his sister’s voice. She’s so strong now, she’s been so strong for such a long time, longer than he’s been anywhere close to strong, but now all he sees is six year old Mabel. The little girl with stickers on her cheeks and tears in her eyes with blood dripping down from her freshly scraped knee. “I don’t even know if you’re my Grunkle.” Dipper watches as tears float up from his sister’s eyes. “I wanna believe you but…”

“Then listen to me, remember this morning when I said we needed to talk?”

“T-minus twenty seconds.” The portal flares out and a burst of energy sends the men flying back into the wall. Dipper grunts when he connects with the stone before he refocuses on Mabel. With wide horrified eyes she readies to push the button.

“I wanted to say that you’re gonna hear some bad things about me, and some of them are going to be true. But everything I’ve worked for, everything I care about,” There’s a desperate sadness in his voice. “It’s all for this family.”

“Mabel what if he’s lying?” Dipper asks fiercely. “This thing could destroy the universe! Listen to your head!”

“Look into my eyes Mabel, you really think I’m a bad guy?”

“He’s lying! Shut it down now!”

“Mabel please!”

“Ten, nine,--” The electricity crackling around the portal is much louder now. Almost a lightning storm. She has to press that button. She has to press it or they’re all going to die. He can’t watch his sister die, _he can’t_. She has to press that button! Mabel looks at Stan with wide sad eyes.

“Grunkle Stan,”

“Six, five--”

“I trust you.” She lets go of the button and begins to float up in front of the portal. Blood roars in Dipper’s ears as his lungs feel too tight. He doesn’t know if he’s even breathing at this point the panic builds up so quickly but he still manages to speak.

“Mabel are you crazy, we’re all gonna--”

“One, zero--” The world goes white.

* * *

They must only be out for a minute or two because soon Dipper’s waking up as he hits the concrete floor. He rubs at a sore spot on his head and glares out at the wreckage. The portal, even as wrecked as it is, is still glowing blue as Dipper rises to his feet. Mabel spots him and rushes over. Acid churns in his stomach but he puts the anger on the backburner, too grateful to see her alive. She run to his side and wraps him in a hug and he hears her panicked breathing and hugs a little harder. Stan and Soos have also gotten to their feet and now all four stand watching as a shadow overtakes the blue of the portal. A man emerges wearing black and a hooded cloak. The portal goes inactive as he walks through the wreckage a few steps. He pauses and bends over and when he stand back up Dipper watches as he places the second journal in a pocket within his coat.  

“What? Who is that?” He’s not really expecting anyone to answer.

“The Author of the journals.” Stan says with quiet awe. “My brother.” The man in question lowers his hood and removes his goggles allowing them all to glimpse his face for the first time. Dipper and Mabel both startle at seeing their Grunkle’s face, cold and hard staring at them emotionlessly. They’ve always know Stan had to have had siblings, or else how could he be their Grunkle, but a twin? The old man had kept that very much to himself.

“Is this the part where one of us faints.” Mabel asks in a small voice.

“Dude,” Soos says but never gets to finish as the stranger sways before collapsing into the rubble.

“Stanley!” Stan rushes forward and kneels at his brother’s side. “Soos help me get him upstairs!” No one moves. Stan turns wide scared eyes on them. “Please, please I promise to explain everything just please help me help him.” Soos glances at the kids.

“We’re okay.” Mabel tells him. “Go help Stan.” The older man nods and goes over to help Stanford lift the other Pines and they go to carry him upstairs. Dipper and Mabel linger for a moment and Mabel turns wide scared eyes on him.

“I’m sorry Dipper, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t believe that Stan was trying to destroy the world.”

“It’s okay Mabel.” It doesn’t really feel okay but Dipper’s not entirely sure if he’s feeling anything right now really. It’s been a long day and he can see Mabel starting to shake. They’re both probably going into shock. “If we had died I would have been pissed in the afterlife, but you did what you thought was right. I can’t begrudge you for that.” He’s feeling a little light headed so he thinks it’s probably a good idea if they head upstairs now and sensing his decision Mabel starts moving towards the stairs with him. They’re silent right up until they get into the gift shop, which is just as destroyed as Stan’s lab before he hears it. Mabel is crying. She’s trying her hardest to be quiet but he hears the irregularity in her breaths and the tears hitting the floor. Dipper turns around and sees her, hands covering her face, as her shoulders shake with silent sobs.

“Mabel-”

“I was just so scared,” Her voice hiccups. “I was so scared I made the wrong choice, and that I was going to loose you all.” She can’t keep quiet anymore and now he watches in horror as her sobs become deep, gut-wrenching, whole body spasms as she comes apart at the seams. He hasn’t seen her like this since the Gnomes. Quickly he wraps his arms around her and just lets her cry for a few minutes, stroking her hair and making nonsense sounds to try and sooth her.

“It’s okay, you didn’t lose us. You made the right choice. Come on, it’s okay.” They stay like this for a long time, until Mabel is cried out and all of his anger dissipates.

“Okay, okay, I’m okay now.”

“Come on, let’s go find everyone.” Mabel nods and they move towards Stan’s room.

Stan is sitting beside the bed staring down at his brother with worried eyes and as much as Dipper wants to have it out with the old man he can’t bring himself to do it. This must be the first time in a couple decades that Stan’s laid eyes on his twin. Dipper can’t even imagine what he would feel like if Mabel was ever taken from him for that long.

“How’s he doing?” Mabel asks and Dipper’s not sure if she’s talking about the Author or about their Grunkle.

“I don’t see any physical problems.” Stan says in a soft voice. “He probably just needs to adjust to being back.” He looks over at them and opens his arms. Mabel immediately steps into the hug. “Thank you for trusting me. I know I didn’t give you any reason that you should,” He looks up at Dipper. “But I promise, as soon as I know he’s okay I’ll explain everything.”

“Dudes, powers out and the cell tower must have gotten trashed. I can’t call anyone.” Soos informs them.

“I’ll go get you some more blankets.” Mabel says and when it looks like Dipper’s going to stay and start interrogating Stan she grabs his elbow and forces him to leave the room with her. “Stay here until I get back.” She instructs when she gets him out into the hallway. “Don’t bother Stan right now.”

“Yeah, leave harassing Stanford to me, Pine Tree!” Dipper and Mabel both startle and whip around to see the demon floating casually behind them. “Hey there Shooting Star, busy day, huh?”

“Bill.” Dipper’s surprise quickly evaporates. “Where the hell have you been!?” He snaps.

“Told you kiddo I was--”

“Out of town sure, whatever. We needed you here Bill, I needed you and you didn’t come!” It hurts more to say it out loud and he’s vaguely aware that Mabel’s left.

“Aw come on Pine Tree, I helped you as much as I could.” Dipper scoffs. “I gave you the code into the lab. I offered to help Stanford fix the portal, I mean sheesh, town-wide destruction didn’t have to be on the menu.” Some of the fire dies in Dipper’s belly.

“I needed you here.” He says softly.

“But I need to be out there. Besides you’ll be happy about what I’ve accomplished.” Bill’s body enlarges and Dipper watches as pictures flicker across him. “I wiped the feds, they don’t have any idea who Stanford Pines is or why they’re in Gravity Falls. They’ll be out of here in a heartbeat and you won’t have to worry about them coming back.” Dipper watches as Agent Powers and Trigger climb into a black car and drive past the city limits. “And I made sure that your friends stayed safe during that last anomaly.” Dipper’s heart stops as he watches Wendy get thrown through a window, only to be saved by a bright yellow glow and Pacifica almost crushed by her father’s car before the same yellow glow bats the vehicle away. Candy and Grenda are seen together protected as well from the debris.

“You protected them?”

“Course I did, Pine Tree. I know how much they mean to you.” Something still doesn’t sit right with Dipper. It makes his stomach turn and his hands feel clammy.

“Thanks Bill.” He says but he’s not sure if he means it. “But you know this was coming. You could have warned us. And don’t say you didn’t because it would have ended the universe, I don’t believe that. You wanted to watch what happened when we found out. You wanted to see what we would do. Like a movie.” His throat is tight. “You manipulated us.”

“What can I say, kid? You’re the greatest show on earth.” His nonchalance sets Dipper off.

“Thanks for protecting my friends. But you have to leave now. I need to sort through this mess on my own. Go watch from the nosebleed section.” He snarls and Bill raises his hands placatingly.

“Okay, I’ll go Pine Tree, you do your thing. But just remember,” the demon flips a coin and Dipper catches it. “Just call if you need me.”

“Goodbye Bill.” He says in a clipped tone.

“Later Pine Tree.” Bill flashes out of existence.

“Dipper,” Mabel’s voice pulls him out of his rage.

“Yeah?”

“The power’s out, cell signals are down, Bill’s not a viable option for information, and Stan’s long lost twin brother and Author of the journals is sleeping in Stan’s bedroom. I hate to say it but we haven’t been this far up shit creek since the Gideon incident.” Dipper sighs and nods.

“I know. We have to do something.”

“I need to go investigate.”

“What? Mabel, no. If anyone should go it should be me.”

“No, finding the Author has been you mission for years, and you’re the only one who can handle Bill when he shows back up. You need to stay here so you can get info from the Author when he wakes up.”

“But--”

“No butts except yours staying right here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She pushes the pile of blankets into his arms. “We need to know what’s going on and I know you need to be here.”

“Mabel I don’t want you to go alone. It could be dangerous.”

“Dipper of the two of us who has more experience defending themselves?”

“You, but--”

“And who has the magical amulet that can destroy their enemies?”

“You do, but--”

“And who’s the one who needs to hear Stan’s explanation?”

“That one doesn’t count, you need that as much as I do.” He insists.

“No I don’t Dipper.” She shakes her head sadly. “Stan did this all for his brother. I don’t need to know more than that to know what he did was justified.” Mabel squeezes his arm. “Plus you know your boyfriend is okay, but I need to go find Pacifica.”

“I don’t want you to go.” Dipper admits in a small voice. “I don’t want something to happen to you.”

“We need to know more about Stan’s brother, Stanley I think?, wow their parent’s must have hated them.” That forces a slightly hysterical laugh out of Dipper’s throat.

“Okay. But please be careful. I couldn’t handle anything happening to you.”

“Same here bro bro.” Mabel wraps him in a warm hug and for a split second it’s like she’s squeezing his fractured world back into place. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Okay. Don’t be gone too long.”

“I’ll try not to be.” Mabel promises before letting go and turning to head back down the hall. Dipper watches her go and soon he’s standing alone. The lights of the Shack are out and some of them are hanging from the ceiling precariously. Portions of the floor and walls are cracked and Dipper looks at the drywall dust that’s gathered on the floor. His arms are full of blankets for the Stans, and the chill of the winter air is starting to seep through the broken windows and walls. The cold is going to be miserable if the power doesn’t get fixed soon Dipper thinks as he heads back towards Stan’s bedroom. Absolutely miserable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed.


	5. resuRfacing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't normal, Stanley's back, and Dipper still doesn't know the mystery of the Mystery Shack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of emotions in this chapter, some good some bad...mostly bad though.

The chill has set into his bones when he wakes up a few hours later. The living room had been mostly undamaged and after some poking and prodding from Soos Dipper had reluctantly retreated to the sofa to get some rest. He’s not entirely sure why he’s awake for a moment, expecting to see Bill sitting on his chest or hear Mabel’s soft voice pulling him out of sleep, but as he cracks bleary eyes open he sees neither. Dipper considers rolling back over on the uncomfortable couch and trying to go back to sleep but he hears a creaking floorboard and sits upright.

“Stan?” He asks, rubbing his eyes. The old man startles and looks at Dipper like a deer in headlights and it’s only then that it clicks that this isn’t Stan. “Oh, uh, hi.” There’s a beat of silence. “It’s good to see you up.” He’s not sure if he’s being sincere or not as he stares back at the Author.

“Hello.” The old man watches as Dipper sits up. “You’re...Dipper?”

“Yeah, did you and Stan already have a chance to talk?” Dipper feels a twinge of annoyance. He still needs to have a conversation with his Grunkle.

“No, uh, the big fellow, Sus?”

“Soos,” The teen corrects. “You’re the Author?”

“The Author?” The twin asks, and Dipper is pleased when the old man takes a seat hoping this means he’ll be able to talk with the older man at length. “My name’s Stanley, by the way.”

“Stanford and Stanley?”

“Our parent’s weren’t as creative with our names as yours were with your and your sister’s.”

“My name isn’t actually Dipper, it’s just a nickname.” There’s an awkward lull. “You wrote the journals.” The older man startles.

“Excuse me? You found my journals?”

“Uh yeah, I found the third the first day I was in Gravity Falls, the second one kinda fell into my lap after an incident with Gideon Gleeful. They’ve been really helpful over the years but I still have a lot of questions.” Dipper doesn’t see the older man stiffen at the mention of Gideon because he reaches beside him and pulls out the third journal from his backpack, stuffed now with his own notes, and a bit more battered and feels guilty for a moment. This was never his and now as he’s giving it back to the man it belonged to he feels ashamed for making so many alterations. He sits fidgeting as Stanley flips through the book, skimming the new notes, touching the pages with delicate fingers. Dipper stares at his hands. Six fingers on each. He wonders if the older twin was born with them or if something strange and supernatural had happened to cause the extra digits to grow.

“Wow, kid,” Dipper’s startled by how much this stranger wearing Stan’s face really does sound like his Grunkle. “You’ve done some impressive work here.” His tone rings with sincerity. “How long have you been here?”

“Every summer since Mabel and I were twelve, we just moved her in a permanent capacity after we graduated.” He realizes that might not give the older man enough information, or perhaps gave him too much extraneous information and adds quickly, “About seven years, on and off.”

“I was here for fifteen.” He looks up and there’s a warm curiosity in his finely-lined eyes.

“I have a couple of journals of my own.” Excitement bubbles up in his chest. “We’ve been researching and studying everything that we can, I noticed you didn’t have much on the fairies, so we took a closer look at them. It’s fascinating, they’re born from flowers once a year and they live for close to a century.” He might start to babble a little bit but the Author just keeps staring at him, clearly riveted, as he talks. “I’ve been hoping one day I would meet you, I wanted to know why? Why start studying Gravity Falls? What happened to you?”

“It’s complicated, Dipper.” Stanley's voice is sad and Dipper realizes that he’s misspoken. “Gravity Falls was an easy place to pick. Ford and I grew up near here, and we would spend a lot of time out here with our Aunt when our Pop was out on business. I picked up on the strangeness right away and I was a curious kid, I couldn’t leave well-enough alone, so I started investigating.” He gives a soft laugh. “I remember one of the first explorations Ford and I went on we ran into this gang of Manotaurs and we almost got our tiny butts whooped but Mama-bear showed up and took care of us.”

“Mama-bear?”

“Yeah, she had a soft spot for kids, she had a cub of her own, see? She had all these extra limbs and heads and at first we were sure she was going to eat us but she just took us home and warned us about getting into trouble. But of course we got into trouble anyway.”

“I think I know her cub, Mabel and I are friends with Multibear.” He’d never even thought about the old creature ever having a family. “He’s saved our butts more than once.”

“Guess it runs in the family.” Stanley smiles for a moment before looking down at the journal and frowning. “As for what happened, well, I’m sure you’ve seen my notes on the device.”

“Yeah, but why create the machine, what gave you the idea? Who tricked you?” Where has he been for the past who knows how long?

“Someone who I thought was a friend. I knew better too, at the time, but the thought of enlightening the world, you know? Answering the big questions, why do we exist? What is the basis for all of morality? Is there a God? I thought I would be able to answer those questions and that it would stop wars, that it would bring all of humanity together more harmoniously.” He gives a short bitter laugh. “I was young and naive, kid. If there’s one thing you should know after looking at all this,” He plops the journal back into Dipper’s hand, “If it sounds too good to be true it is. Don’t let someone hand you shit just because they've wrapped it in gold.” He immediately thinks back to Bill and if the demon was the one that taught Stanley that lesson.

“Uh,” He starts to ask about the demon, but stops himself. He doesn’t know if he can handle that conversation right now. “Don’t you want these back?”

“Keep em, kid.” Stanley smiles at him, and it’s different than how Stan smiles. When this twin grins his teeth don’t show, his face still lights with warmth, but his eyes are still reserved. Dipper gives him a small smile back before reaching into his backpack that’s sitting on the floor next to the couch and pulling out his own journal.

“Here, I’ve been working on compiling anything that I could find that wasn’t in your works.” He shrugs. “It might be interesting.”  

“Thanks, Dipper.” Stanley handles the book with care, the same way Dipper’s always handled the journals. “So breaking away from the supernatural, you’re my grandson?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“How’s your dad?”

“He’s fine, I think.” Dipper shrugs. After he and Mabel had moved out his parents mostly stopped corresponding with them. He hadn’t even really thought about it until now. Gravity Falls always consumes him in a bubble of weird and losing contact with his parents hadn’t even registered. “We haven’t really talked to them that much lately. Are you going to call him?”

“No, I don’t think so, not yet.” Stanley leans back and rubs his chin like Dipper’s watch Stanford do so many times. “I wasn’t really all that close with your dad before I disappeared, and with him thinking whatever Ford told him after I’d gone I can’t imagine that conversation going well.”

“Can I ask where you went? Actually,” he admits, “I have a lot of questions, and I don’t know where to start and Stan’s been dodging me.”

“Well, sorry to dodge you too, Dipper, but that’s a long conversation and I’m going to have to head back soon. Ford doesn’t know that I’m awake yet, and I’d like to keep it that way until he gets some rest.” Dipper sighs but nods.

“Okay…”

“I promise, to start making up all of the things I’ve missed I’ll force Ford to sit down and we’ll tell you everything.”

“Okay.”

“Where’s this sister of yours anyway?”

“She went into town to make sure that her partner is alright. That last anomaly really took its toll on the town.”

“I’ll bet. As soon as I get a chance remind me to clock your great uncle for being a sentimental moron.”

“As long as I get second swing.” His retort makes the other Stan laugh.

“Deal, I better get back before he wakes up.”  He stands. “I’ll make sure that we can sit down and explain this all, soon.” Stanley promises.

“Okay, thanks…” He’s not entirely sure how to address the man. “Stanley.” They don’t know each other well enough for him to feel comfortable calling the old man grandpa. Stanley smiles before creeping off down the hall and Dipper sits in the cold room after he’s gone. He knows that he should go back to sleep, he tries to lay back down, but the Author is sitting in his house, Stan’s brother, Mabel’s gone, and Bill’s off doing god knows what. All he wants is to jump up and find out everything, try and understand everything that’s happened and what is going to happen now, but he doesn’t. Dipper doesn’t know when he’s going to get another chance to sleep once they pry open that can of worms so he forces himself to close his eyes, drawing a ratty throw up to his chin and trying to fall asleep in the cold.

* * *

The handyman enters the even more rundown Shack with a sigh and a bag from Greasy’s. It’s going to take ages to put this place back in order and he’s going to need a lot more duct tape. He stops off in the living room and finds Dipper still asleep so he just sets the young man’s coffee and to-go box of pancakes on the table, knowing the smell will wake the teenager up shortly, before heading into the kitchen. Stanford is sitting at the table with his head in his hands and Soos approaches him quietly.

“Hey Mr. Pines,” He greets setting down the bag on the counter and picking up the coffee that he’d brought for the older man. “Power’s back on for half the town and word was that it would be completely up by tonight.” Stan doesn’t respond even after Soos has sat down across from him. “Has he woken up yet?” He already knows the answer, having spoken to the other Mr. Pines before leaving this morning, but he wonders if Stan knows.

“No.” His voice is hoarse and he still doesn’t look up.

“Well I brought back breakfast for everyone so hopefully he’ll wake up before it gets cold.” Soos states with false cheerfulness before he takes a sip of his coffee. “That was a shocker yesterday, dude.” He says lightly. “Discovering a secret underground lair, a magical portal opening, and a new Pines. It’s just like a videogame, like, beep boop, a new character has been unlocked!” That at least wrings out a dry chuckle from Stanford.

“I don’t know what to tell them.” Stan croaks finally and Soos waits for him to go on. “How am I supposed to explain all of this? And Lee? I haven’t seen him in forty years. I have no idea what happened to him, we promised each other,” The elderly man’s voice trembles and Soos can’t tell if its because he’s distressed or furious, knowing Stan probably both. “That we would always be there for each other, and then he got thrown into that portal and abandoned while I stayed here.”

“From the looks of that secret lair it wasn’t like you were just running the Shack while he was gone.” Stanley finally picks up the paper cup and takes a sip. “Building that machine was why you’ve always been so cheap, huh?” He doesn’t need Stan to confirm his suspicions. “Getting the money to buy all those parts, and to do it discretely, no wonder it took you so long.”

“I had to be careful.” Mr. Pines admits. “When it was just me hanging around it was easier, I was just the weird old man with the tourist trap, but then the kids,” He takes a deep breath and sighs. “I didn’t want them getting mixed up in all of this.”

“You could have locked them in the attic and the little dudes would have still gotten into it.” That forces another quiet laugh out of Stan.

“You’re probably right, Soos.”

“So when are you going to talk to Dipper? Dude needs to know what’s going on before he rips his hair out.”

“I know.” Stan stares into his coffee cup. “I’ll explain everything, as soon as I get a chance to talk to Lee.”

“Fair enough dude. I brought back pancakes, don’t know if your bro likes them but really, who doesn’t go for a good pancake?” Soos stands up and goes back to dig out another styrofoam container of food.

“Thanks Soos.”

“No prob Mr. Pines,” When he turns back around Stanford has already gone. For a second Soos thinks he should be worried until he hears the older Pine’s voice coming from down the hall.

“Hey kid…” He can’t really make out what Stan is saying to Dipper but he just shrugs and picks up another coffee and some of the food to take to the new Pines family member. He’ll need to get started on repairs while it’s still early if he wants to get everything sealed up before nightfall, it wouldn’t due for his favorite family to all die of hypothermia in their sleep.

* * *

Stan comes into the living room shortly after Dipper’s awakened for the second time, this time to the smell of coffee and pancakes. He’s not entirely sure where they came from but he can’t recall eating anything after breakfast yesterday so he digs into them happily. He’s so distracted by the food that he doesn’t even notice his Grunkle enter the room until he speaks.

“Hey kid, how are you doing?” Dipper finishes chewing the bite and swallows, appetite immediately lost as his guts writhe with tension.

“I’m a little confused.” He can’t help the venom in his voice. “But physically I’m not hurt.”

“Look Dipper, I knows you’re pissed, and you’ve got good reason to be, but I promise I’ll explain everything--”

“Of course I’m pissed!” He snaps, standing. “You’ve been lying to us about everything for the past seven years Stan! Seven years!” The teenager reiterates because he thinks that’s pretty important. “And you keep promising to explain but you haven’t I have no idea what’s going on or who you are anymore!”

“I’m still me kid!”

“But who is that exactly? Are you Stetson Pinefield? Hal Forester? Andrew ‘8-Ball’ Alcatraz? Or just some ‘unnamed grifter at large’?!” Stan looks stricken.

“Look kid, I swear that I--”

“That you can explain?” Dipper scoffs. “Sure, and roughly when should I schedule that for? I think I’ve got the first Tuesday of next month free if you think you’ll be ready then.”

“Dip, we’ll talk about this, about all of it, I’ll answer all of your questions, later.” He holds up a hand when it looks like the teen is about to go off again. “Today. Later today. We’ll wait for your sister to get back and then the four of us can sit down and talk. I promise.”

“I don’t think a promise from you means much anymore.” Dipper stalks out of the room, well aware he’s acting the part of a moody teen. Fuck it, after the day he’s had he’s allowed.

* * *

Dipper winds up back downstairs in the hidden lair. This place seems to have suffered even more damage than he recalled last night and looking at it now reminds him of the cave-in. There’s no light without or the benefit of windows so Dipper relies on the small battery powered lantern for illumination as he sifts through the wreckage. He’s not entirely sure what he’s expecting to find but he feels compelled to keep looking around. He’s not watching his step as closely as he should when he hears something cracking under his shoe. Dipper jumps back immediately and looks down to see what he’d stepped on.

Disgust rises in his throat when sees the broken picture frame. How symbolic, he thinks sarcastically.  After a moment he bends down and shakes off the glass to take out the picture, the same one of their first summer in Gravity Falls as Mabel had, before placing it on the least trashed section of the control panel. Then he begins to shift through the rubble. He must work for at least half an hour before he finally finds what he’d come down for. The first journal had fallen behind the panel during the final anomaly and now he holds it tightly between his hands. He takes a deep breath before he opens it and begins to read.

The beginning is just like the others, talking about the strangeness of Gravity Falls and cataloging the different tools and methods that the Author, that Stanley Pines, had used to gather his research. Dipper flips a few pages in and spots a picture tacked down that isn’t of a monster and pauses. Across the page is the cheerful heading of “My Research Team” and underneath a picture of Stanford, Stanley, and McGucket, all in their early thirties, with arms slung around each other’s shoulders and grinning. His emotions stir as he stares at the page, noting Stan’s scribbled handwriting which asserts that he’s cool and that the other two are dorks, the slanted writing of Stanley replying that he shouldn’t take the journal without asking and that hitting things doesn’t make him cool, and an unfamiliar scrawl which he infers belongs to McGucket which dates the photo. Almost forty seven years earlier. Seven years they worked and lived like he and Mabel are before whatever happened to take him away.

Dipper’s surprised when his vision goes misty and shuts the book and sets it aside before rubbing at his eyes. It’s been a long two days. He’s too tired, too worn down, too shaky. He can’t be thinking about the old Mystery Twins, the original Mystery Twins, or the Mystery Trio in comparison to his and Mabel’s current Team Mystery. He can’t keep thinking about what would happen to him if something happened to Mabel. He can’t do it. He feels the panic attack coming and he tries to fight it by controlling his breathing. It doesn’t do him any good as his world starts to spin and sweat dampens his hair. Dipper sinks to the floor before he gets too dizzy and falls, shoving away the debris distractedly as his heart rate speeds and the world feels like its imploding.

“I can’t leave you alone for five minutes can I?” Dipper doesn’t want to feel relieved but as soon as Bill’s voice registers in his mind some of the weight in his chest lifts. Bill presses himself against the human’s front and wraps his arms, coiling the extended limbs several times, around him and holding on tightly. Dipper’s shaking like a leaf but after a second of hesitation he hugs the demon back. “Come on Pine Tree, you can work through it. Control your breathing.” The human doesn't even bother snip at him this time just follows the advice. They stay twined together for the longest time Dipper can ever remember one of his attacks lasting.

“What are you doing here?” He mutters with his chin resting on the demons small shoulder.

“You needed me.”

“I didn’t call you.”

“Doesn’t change what I said.”

“Thanks.” He feels even more exhausted now as his clammy skin dries in the cool air of the basement.

“Come on, Pine Tree, let’s get you laying down.” Bill floats out of the embrace and Dipper drags himself to his feet to follow the demon upstairs. He grabs the journal on his way past and doesn’t pause.

“Do you know if Mabel’s alright?”

“She’s better than you are right now. Come on, Dipping Dot.” Dipper shuts the entrance to the lab behind him before letting Bill bully him into lying back down on the sofa in the living room. He seats himself on the human’s sternum and looks down at him with an intensity that Dipper knows means something. If he weren’t still coming down from the aftershocks of the anxiety attack he thinks he’d be squirming uncomfortably.

“What?”

“Just looking at you Pine Tree.”

“It’s kind of starting to creep me out.” He throws his arm over his eyes and sighs.

“Are you still mad?”

“A little, does it matter?”

“Course it does, you silly meat sack.”

“I’ll get over it.” He eventually admits. “You did take care of the cops and my friends when I couldn’t.” Dipper moves his arm slightly so one eye is uncovered so he can peek at the creature sitting on his chest. “But you’re going to have to talk to me. I don’t understand what’s going on and it’s worse when I know you’re deliberately keeping the truth from me. You and Stan.”

“I can only tell you so much Pine Tree.” Bill moves up his torso so that he can touch Dipper’s cheeks and Dipper moves his arm back to his side so he can fully look at the demon. His touch is gentle and his hands exploratory as they stroke over his cheeks, eyelids, nose, lips, and with a sigh he realizes that something must really be wrong.

“I’m sorry about yesterday. I was really upset.” Bill laughs his insane little chuckle but the malicious enjoyment just isn’t in it.

“Boy I should think so, everyone lying to you, the world almost ending, meeting your idol only to have him faint at your feet instead of the otherway around? Surprised you little human heart hasn’t given out on you yet.” Dipper doesn’t know how he picks up on it, doesn’t hear any strange inflection in the demon’s words, but suddenly it hits him. He takes Bill's small hands in his own and presses a gentle kiss to each.

“I love you.” He reassures the demon. Bill doesn’t show any outward reaction but Dipper knows, knows with a certainty that is screaming in his very bones, that it’s exactly what Bill needed to hear.

“Well you’re not the first human to throw themselves at my feet. I mean have you seen the pyramids?” Dipper snorts.

“I thought we were trying out the romantic thing.”

“I never said that, Pine Tree.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“But you love me anyway.” Bill says cheerfully. Dipper sighs, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“But I love you anyway.”

“Oh you’re such a cheeseball--”

“Hey kid, what’s this about the Shape Shifter--” Dipper jolts at hearing Stanley’s voice coming from the doorway and his head swivels to look at the old man. “Bill!”

“Hey there Glasses, long time no see.” Dipper doesn’t have a chance to say anything before Stanley is prattling off a familiar incantation.

“Wait stop!” He jerks upright, not knowing what he’s planning to do to stop his grandfather but needing to be in action all the same. Stanley is finished with the spell before he can move any further. “Bill!” He reaches out for the demon but his hands pass through air as Bill is banished from the Shack with a flash of light. “Bill?!” Dipper’s not ready to feel this kind of panic again after just coming down from an attack and he feels himself quickly gearing up for another. “Why did you do that?!” He rounds on Stanley who looks surprised at the furious outburst. “He wasn’t hurting anything! How long did you just banish him for? Did you even think before you just started throwing magic around?!” His yelling brings Stanford into the room.

“Whoa there kid, what’s going on?” Dipper’s frustration with the new man is enough to make him temporarily forget that he’s still angry with Stan.

“He banished Bill who, by the way, called the feds off your wrinkly ass!” He snaps.

“He did?” Stan looks at his brother. “Look, I told you things had changed--”

“Changed? Do you not remember anything about Bill? Did you forget everything that happened--” Stanley cuts himself off with an angry growl. “How could you let him back into our house? How could you let him near your nephew, my grandson? What were you thinking Ford?!”

“Listen bucko,” Stan snarls, getting into Stanley’s space. “The kid’s been seeing that freaky nacho for three years, been hanging out around him for five, and if you think I didn’t try and stop it then going through that portal made your head soft! But the brat’s just as headstrong and clever as you. At least here I could keep an eye on them.”

“You should have thought of something, you have no idea what’s going on!” Stanley roars back.

“Neither do I, thanks very much!” Dipper’s voice cuts through their argument. “And since it’s my sister that almost had to shoulder the end of the world, since it’s my boyfriend that you just banished for who knows how long, I think it’s my right for you both to sit the fuck down and explain exactly what is going on!” Because his magic has never been particularly strong he’s never had to worry about breaking something when his emotions are running too high, with the exception of when he and Bill are having sex, so when a large crack rips through the plaster and wood paneling of the living room wall he's just as surprised as them. All three stand in silence after. The anger has melted off of Stan’s face and Stanley just looks a little worried as he glances between Dipper and the new damage in the wall.

“He’s right, Lee. He needs to know, and you need to know what’s happened since you left. Things _changed_.” There’s a passion in the last word that makes it heavy.

“You need to know what happened, where I went after he threw me into that portal, because I don’t think things have changed as much as you want to believe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time there's gonna be a ton of original Mystery Twins and Mystery Trio so look forward to that and I hope you enjoyed.


	6. tRust no one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper finally gets his answers but it turns out to be a little more than he bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said this will be heavily Mystery Twins Classic and Mystery Trio. I took some fandom things, like Grandma Pine's name being Phyllis and Mrs. McGucket's name being Gina, from the Mystery Trio tumblr tag. Enjoy

Stanford jogs down the empty street with panic bright in his chest. He hadn’t been able to find Lee after school and when he’d arrived home his brother had been frighteningly absent. Ford sprints down the street, small legs pumping as his chest burns for more air, as he searches. His glasses are sliding down the bridge of his nose and he tries to push them up without slowing and accidentally punches himself. Well, that’s just par for the course really.

“Lee?!” He calls out as he approaches the structure about a hundred feet ahead. The figure sitting on the joint swingset doesn’t look up at him, but Stan’s chest swells in relief. “Lee!” He jogs up to his brother, panting, and stops in front of him.

“Go away Ford!” Stan starts when he hears his brother’s trembling voice. Fat tears are rolling down Lee’s cheeks, the left one swollen with a bruise forming, and his shoulders are shaking as he clutches tight at the chains holding the swing up.

“What happened? Who hit ya?” Lee twists away from Stan’s reaching hands.

“What does it matter?! We can’t do nothing about it!” Ford’s heart sinks.

“Come on Lee, schools almost out, we’ll be able to go see Auntie soon and we won’t have to worry about those jerks anymore.” He sits on the swing beside his brother. “We just gotta hang on and I’ll protect you.” It’s not a very good reassurance. He’s taken just as many, if not more, punches from mean kids than Lee has but he’d take every last one if it meant he wouldn’t have to see his brother crying. Stanley sniffles and wipes his face on his sleeve.

“How are we gonna hang on till summer?”

“We stick together Lee, just like we always have, just like we always will.” He grins at the younger boy. “So don’t worry about it, okay?” Lee gives him a watery smile.

“Okay…”

“Good,” Stan lightly punches him in the shoulder. “Don’t just run off like that again!” Lee cringes.

“I won’t.”

“Good. I can’t look after you if you just go and disappear.”

* * *

The knocking on the front door is a surprise at three am. Stanford grumbles and prys himself out of his warm bed and throws on a robe and a pair of slippers before going to see what asshole is bothering him this early in the fucking morning. With a scowl Stan throws open the door only to spot Lee standing on the other side.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He regrets his harsh words when he hears Lee sniffling in the dark.

“Phyllis kicked me o-out.” Stan admits he’s seen this coming for a while, but it doesn’t make the pain in his chest for his brother’s misfortune lessen. “S-she wants a divorce!”

“Come on, I think you need a drink.” He ushers the younger man inside and shuts the door behind him.

“I’m going to lose her and my boy and there’s nothing I can do about it.” He forces Lee to sit down and feels his brother’s shoulders trembling under his hands. He wants to say that they’ll work something out, that he’s not going to let that happen, but his brother’s always been a kind of odd and goofy guy and Phyllis a headstrong gal, and no court is going to give the bumbling scientist custody over the self-assured working mother.

“We’ll work it out.” The promise feels like a lie. “You can stay here in the meantime.” He stands up and heads towards the kitchen. He’s not going to be able to deal with this level of angst sober. “And hey, you’ll be closer to the lab now, I’m sure that’ll be some kinda silver lining.”

* * *

He probably shouldn’t have ever brought up Lee’s studies of the supernatural while he was in such a delicate state because for the next three weeks Ford is having bring food down into the basement and nearly force it down Lee’s throat. His brother has been working like a madman and he has no idea how to break the cycle. He wishes he was better at this, at comforting and helping, but he’s not. The week after Carla had left him he’d been a wreck, drinking himself into a coma, but Lee had come by made him get cleaned up and cooked. Lee had known all the right things to say and soon he’d been right back to adventuring and punching monsters in the face with his brother. But he’s not Lee. He has no idea what to say to make things better. He’s just as lost as he was sitting on that swing set when they were eight and his little brother was crying. At least then all he’d needed to do was learn how to throw a few punches. He doubts Lee’s situation could be solved by clocking someone.

“Hey, chump.” He greets as he walks into the lab with a steak, mashed potatoes, and peas. “Brought you some food.” Lee is sitting at one of the work tables, peering into a microscope and jotting a few notes down on his pad. Lee’s hair is more mussed than usual, stubble dusting his usually cleanly shaven chin, and dark circles lining his eyes. “Yeesh you look awful. Take a break will you?”

“Can’t, I’m trying to record the rate of cell division of these--”

“Come on Lee I know you didn’t eat breakfast,” The plate of french toast he’d brought down at ten, “Or lunch,” the tuna melt he’d brought at two. “At least have some dinner.”

“I can’t, really.” Lee looks up at him and his eyes aren’t as empty as they’ve been for the past few days. “Trust me bro, I’d love to take a break and have some of your cooking, but I need to finish these observations.” He gives a small smile and Stan feels like he’s been suckerpunched. “This shouldn’t take too much longer. Just wrap it up and I’ll come eat when I’m done.”

“Fine.” He grumbles inspite of the relief swelling in his chest and turns back towards the stairs.

“Hey, Ford?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re my brother.” He shrugs without turning back to face Lee. “But you seriously need another pair of hands down here. You’re going to kill yourself doing all this sciencey junk on your own.”  Stan heads upstairs on that note to eat his own food before it grows cold. Lee stares after his brother with light filling his eyes. Of course. Ford always knows just the right thing to say.

* * *

“Ford this is Dr. Fiddleford McGucket!” Lee cheerfully introduces the scrawny big-nosed nerd standing beside him. “He’s going to be helping us with our research!”

“H-Hello.” The stick figure offers one long-fingered hand to be shaken and Ford hesitates. He could break this guy in half. His hesitation must take a second too long because McGucket’s hand retreats to his side and his nervousness seems to increase. “It’s nice to meet you.” The words are filled with doubt.

“Hi.” He finally greets when Lee glowers at him from behind the new man. “Try not to get eaten by anything.” McGucket goes pale as a sheet at the warning and Ford would feel a little bad about it if it wasn’t so funny to see his eyes go wide as saucers.

“No need to worry about that just yet,” Lee tries to reassure the man, “You’ll start off just going with me to observe some phenomenon with me, no interaction until at least the third week.”

“What are you a doctor of, anyhow?”

“Mechanical engineering.” Fiddleford answers quickly. “But I’ve studied in many areas, biology, physics, chemistry,--”

“Alright, alright, you already got the job, you don’t need to do the whole pitch.” Ford cuts him off with  raised hand and the small scientist turns red. Cute. “Have fun with your new nerd, I’m going out, don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone Lee.”

“Be nice Ford!”

“Unlikely.” Lee scowls at him before leading McGucket into the lab.

“Ignore him, he’s a neanderthal.” Stan rolls his eyes as he heads back up into the house. Well at least now Lee has someone who understands what he’s talking about to rant at.

* * *

Of course Lee can’t keep out of trouble for more than a couple days at a time and the following Wednesday finds the twins being chased through the forest by some very irate Manotaurs.

“You,” Ford jumps over a fallen log, “Just HAD TO investigate the pain-hole, didn’t you?!”

“You just HAD TO bring jerky with you, didn’t you?!”

“If we survive this I swear to god I’m going to clock you so hard you won’t move your chump ass for a week!!” To his utter disgust Lee just starts laughing hysterically as they run. That is until the Manotaur throws a tree at them. “INCOMING!” They both dive to the forest floor and cover their heads. The tree crashes into the ground a few yards ahead of them and before they can get to their feet the Manotaur is bearing down on them.

“Damn it! Stay back Lee.” He dawns his brass knuckles and takes up a fighting stance.

“No need for that, moron.” Both brothers heads swivel around to spot Fiddleford, with an excessively large backpack, toying with some strange looking device as he stands beside the thrown tree.

“Fids what are you doing here?!” If anything Lee looks even more distressed. Ford knows he’s been trying to keep McGucket away from the really dangerous and stupid parts of his research ever since he found out about the lanky man’s little boy.

“I think saving your butts is the best descriptor.” The Manotaur roars and raises its fists to smash them all into squishy lumps of blood and bone fragments. Fiddleford aims the device and shoots. A blue light emits from the gun and then the Manotaur goes unnaturally still.

“What was that?” Lee asks when it’s abundantly obvious that the creature isn’t going to moving again for a while.

“Prototype freeze ray, I’ve been developing it on my own for quite some time.” Lee’s eyes light up and Ford groans. He knows a science-crush when he sees one. “But we should probably get going, I don’t know how long the effects will last on something of that size.”

  
“Oh yeah, better go then.” Ford agrees and dusts himself off before trotting over to Fiddleford. “So how does it work? I mean it can’t just be freezing, there’s only a few living creatures that can survive being frozen solid and you said you were expecting him to come out of it,” Ford falls into step with the other men and rolls his eyes. During a small lull of silence while Lee is furiously scribbling in his notepad Ford elbows McGucket to get his attention.

“That was pretty brave, for a nerd.”

“That was pretty dumb, even for a moron.” The scientist replies with a straight face.

“Heh, I guess it was.” Maybe the lanky little dork won’t just be good for Lee.

* * *

Lee wakes up for the third time in a week with visions of a strange triangle floating around in his head. He sighs, this time it had almost felt like the golden thing was going to try to speak with him, but he’d woken before anything could happen. He rolls over and flips on the lamp before putting on his glasses and sitting up. The first two times he could write it off as a coincidence, but now it is definitely a pattern, and he has to make note of it. He quickly jots down a few notes before sighing and putting his pen down. Maybe studying all of the strange stuff in Gravity Falls is finally starting to get to him.

* * *

He’s not really intending to come across a secret society of demon worshipers in the middle of Gravity Falls. He’s not all that surprised to be entirely honest but he really hadn’t intended to come across them. He’s been innocently sitting up in a tree trying to spot some fairies when all the sudden five figures in hooded cloaks had appeared out of nowhere and started making a circle with candles and chanting strange things in a language that sounded like a combination of Latin and someone playing a record backwards. He watches silently for about an hour before the congregation of people, with shoulders slumped and dejected grumbles, pack up their things and leave the way they came. Lee gives a sigh of relief at not having been spotted and flips his notebook shut. In the split second that he looks down at the paper the world blurs into black and white.

“Pretty dull ceremony, huh Glasses?” The voice is too loud and high and Lee nearly falls from the branches as he startles. His head whips around and he sees a floating golden triangle with a single large eye staring at him. The triangle has thin black limbs and a brick pattern across its body and wears a black bowtie and top hat.

“What the? Who are you? What are you?” Something itches at the back of his mind. Almost like he recognizes the creature.

“Bill Cipher’s the name Specs, and you just watched my sad little cult, I think you can take a fair guess about what I am.”

“Holy cow, you’re the demon they were trying to summon!” Lee's sense of impending doom starts to blare through his mind.

“Give the man a prize, folks, got it in one!” The demon snaps his fingers and Lee’s notebook floats into his hands.

“Hey, give that back!”

“Hey, zip it, four-eyes.” In a split second Stanley is horrified to feel his mouth contort into a zipper and be tugged shut by some invisible force. “Wow looks like you’ve been mucking around these parts for a while, huh?” The demon flips through the notes. “Still barely scraping the surface though. You don’t have a clue about classic hauntings here, do you?” Stanley is a little too distracted clawing at his new mouth to take a deep interest in what the triangle is saying. “Hmm, how about this,” the demon snaps his fingers and Lee’s mouth is back to normal. “I stick around and help you fill in the blanks.”

“Why would you do that? And what do you get out of this, I don’t know much about demons but they don’t tend to do things for free.”

“Right you are. You give me access to your plain of reality.”

“No way! You could start killing people for all I know!”

“How about this, I help you do your research, you give me access to your reality and I won’t make any deals or cause any havoc until our deal is terminated, and at that point I leave your plane of existence. It’s a pretty good deal, Glasses, more favorable to you than me.”

“Why make a deal like that? It doesn’t benefit you at all.” The demon shrugs.

“I wouldn’t say that. I haven’t had a lot of human interaction in the past couple thousand years, I would love to see how you meat bags have changed since then.” Lee fidgets uncomfortably. There has to be a downside.  

“You won’t hurt anyone?”

“No death or maiming of any humans.” The triangle promises. He really shouldn’t. Lee glances down at the notepad. He really really shouldn’t.

* * *

“So Bill’s going to be stopping in from time-to-time just to help with our research.” Lee tells Ford and Fids later that night. The smaller man looks a little pale as he speaks while Ford looks like he’s going to murder Lee as soon as he gets the chance. He can’t even blame his brother. This might be the stupidest thing he’s ever done.

* * *

About a week after he makes the deal the demon shows up in the lab. The world turns black and white and all three men startle when the demon appears.

“Hey there Glasses, I’ve got a present for you!”

“What the hell is that?” Stanford asks as he looks at the triangle, hands clenches at his sides and tension visible in the strong line of his shoulders.

“Guys this is that demon I was telling you about, Bill.” He looks at said demon. “Bill this is my brother Stanford and our friend Fiddleford.”

“That’s nice Glasses, but about that present,” Cipher snaps his fingers and his hand fills with what Lee is sickeningly sure are teeth. “Deer teeth!” The demon confirms his suspicions cheerfully. “And intestines!” He drops the handful of teeth into Lee’s palm and then drops a pale woven bracelet into the other. As soon as the items are in the human’s hands the world turns back to color and Lee knows that they’ve left the Mindscape and is surprised to see the demon still floating in front of them.

“Uh, thanks? I know that you said you haven’t really had much interaction with humans in the past few thousand years but we don’t really like getting animal bits as gifts…”

“They let me exist in your reality, take care of them or the deals off.”

“Oh, okay…”

“So what are you meat bags working on?” Bill floats over to the research equipment.

“We’re trying to chart the irregular patterns of water current at the Falls. There’s been a lot of water being pulled towards here,” he indicates a spot on the map. “But there’s no opening here, no where for the water to drain out. This section should be constantly flooding with how much water is going in, but its not.”

“Well, Specs that’s because there is an opening over in this area.”

“What? No there can’t be,” Fiddleford finally speaks up. “We’ve surveyed the area thoroughly. We didn’t find any evidence of an underwater cavern or anything else.”

“Depends on what time you go. The dimensional rift it always in flux, Nose, you could go your entire life without seeing it.”

“Unless an interdimensional demon tells you where it is?” Lee inquires hopefully.

“Unless you’ve got an interdimensional demon to tell you where it is.” Bill cackles a little and Stanley’s so thrilled at the revelation he doesn’t even feel off about it.

* * *

“I thought you said they were going to be hibernating!” Fiddleford shouts as they run through the forest at dusk three months later.

“They were supposed to be!” The Gremloblins are gaining on them as they run through the foliage. “Shit, Fids I think we went the wrong-!” They come to a skidding halt in front of a cliff face. “Way…” He turns with wide eyes on the monster. There’s no time to run and he barely has a chance to raise his arms to protect his chest and face before the beast’s large claws are slashing through his skin. Lee screams, agony roaring through his limbs, before the creature swipes at him again, hitting him in the middle and sending him colliding with the rocks behind them.

He hears his ribs crack when he hits the wall of stone and the world dips sharply on its side as he grows woozy from the pain. He slides down to the forest floor with a thud. He tries to move his arms, to push himself off the ground, and his stomach rolls when he gets a look at what the beast’s claws have done to his soft human flesh. He thinks he can see bones through the blood and muscle that is hanging off the limbs. Blood paints the grass around him and when he looks up, to locate the creature, to see if Fiddleford is still alive-oh god what is he going to do if Fids dies? What’s he supposed to tell Gina?-, but the word is blurry. He can’t see anything clearly. His glasses must have gotten lost at some point. The blurry dark shape moving angrily towards him must be the Gremloblin and he wants to move, to get up and get away, but none of his limbs are cooperating. He can’t move as the creature approaches. Its close enough for him to see its dripping jaws clearly before it explodes, showering him in a thick mist of blood. Lee doesn’t have much time to think about what happened before he passes out.

* * *

When Lee opens his eyes, and hey isn’t that a pleasant surprise, the ceiling is blurry but unmistakably the same blurry ceiling he sees every morning when he wakes up. He groans, entire body feeling stiff and sore, before reaching towards the nightstand to grab his glasses. His hand feels too heavy and he fumbles to grab the frames for a second before he finally plops them onto his face. He remembers the blood and the pain and looks down at his arms in horror. The flesh has been knit back together and all traces of the injuries are gone. His vision runs over his arms and stops at his hands. He screams.

“Lee!” Ford bursts through the door with a tray of food, always thinking the best solution for anything is to eat, get drunk, or punch something, and rushes over to the bedside. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” Lee’s hands are trembling as he stares wide eyed at the new additions to his hands. “Oh.” Ford says and his voice is filled with understanding.

“What happened?” His voice is shaking.

“That would be my fault, Glasses.” Bill admits and both Stans look up when the demon appears in the room. “You were pretty torn up so I tried to heal you, admittedly not something I’ve had much practice with and you wound up with a couple extra digits. They should work just fine though.” Lee bends his new fingers experimentally and his stomach rolls as he watches them move.

“On the bright side Cipher saved your sorry ass from death by mauling.” Stan grumbles.

“Yeah,” He tries to shake off the horrified fascination with his strange hands. “Thanks for that…” Lee looks over at Ford. “What about Fids?”

“He’s okay, a little scraped up and pretty freaked out, but okay.”

“How long have I been out?”

“‘Bout a day.” Lee looks back at his hands and moves all his fingers again. It doesn’t really feel all that different than it did before and at least he got extra index fingers instead of useless pinkeys. It could have been worse.

* * *

After that Bill starts hanging around the house more and more, keeping an eye on the three mystery hunters and steering them in the right direction. He offers advice, dumb nicknames, and to Stanley’s great surprise help on building the machine that he and Fiddleford have been absentmindedly chatting about for the past year.

“What? It can’t be possible to create an interdimensional portal, not by human means at least.” He states when Bill offers.

“Not with that attitude it can’t.” The demon chuckles.

“The portals are naturally occurring in Gravity Falls though,” McGucket pipes up from across the lab where he’s making adjustments to his latest machine. “Are you just talking about tapping into that frequency so we can control where they turn up?”

“Nope, completely man-made dimensional rifts are possible.” Bill examines his claws. “And I could help you develop the technology, if that’s something you’re interested in.”

Both scientists turn to each other with wide eyes.

“We’re interested.”

* * *

“We need more scrap.” Ford informs Lee as he comes down into the lab. The metal structure of the machine is starting to look finished. There are only a few more panels that need to be fitted and welded into place and his chest grows tight with pride. It’s taken them almost two years to get this far with their work but it’s all going to be worth it.

“Okay, I’ll go into town and raid the junkyard. Did Fids say he needed anything specific?”

“The nerd wants larger pieces so he doesn’t need to spend eighteen hours a week welding.”

“Noted.” He shrugs off his labcoat and picks up his normal jacket. “Do you want anything while I’m in town?”

“Yeah pick up some grub on your way back.”

“You’re gonna get fat eventually you know. That metabolism won't last forever.” He warns.

“Yeah right poindexter. I’ll get doughy the same time you get fit.”

“Shove it Ford.” He snaps good naturedly.

“Get burgers!” His twin calls after him. Lee considers bringing his brother back a salad but discards the idea quickly. He rather likes living in a world where Ford doesn’t come into his room at night to torture him in his sleep.

* * *

He makes it to the scrapyard and to the burger joint in relative peace it’s only after he’s gotten his order that things get weird. Lee walks out of the restaurant with the bag of greasy food and is heading over to his car when someone stops him with a hand on his elbow.

“That’s an interesting set of hands you’ve got there, sonny.” He turns around to look at the speaker and notes with some surprise who’s approached him. The woman is probably in her early forties with long brown and gray hair and wears long red-brown robes even though it’s the middle of summer. She has a large nose and bright red eyes and her olive skin is so translucent it almost looks green. He recognizes her immediately from rumor, although he’s never met her before in person, and wishes he had his journal with him.

“Hello, you must be the Hand Witch.” He smiles, transferring the bag to one hand so he can shake hers. “I’ve heard a bit about you from a friend.”

“The same ‘friend’ who gave you these peculiar metacarpals I assume?”

“Uh, yes, though this was an accident.”

“Do you always trust the words of demons, or is this one special to you?” Heat flares across the back of Stanley’s neck and he pulls his hand out of the woman’s grasp.

“You seem to know a lot about me considering we’ve never met before.”

“Hands like these don’t come into existence very often.” She remarks and there’s something sharp and calculating in her eyes. It’s eerie and Stan feels more uncomfortable looking down at this petite woman than he did trying to explain to his son why he and Phyllis had separated. “And I see all of the strange webs these fingers are tangled in. Beware of consorting with demons Stanley Pines, beware of toying with the walls between worlds or else these extra digits won’t be the only thing that demon adds to our reality.” A piece of paper flutters through his line of vision and when it passes the witch is gone. Lee’s stomach squirms as he looks down at the woven intestine bracelet on his wrist. This is the first time he’s been warned off of something supernatural. Maybe he should take heed.

* * *

Stanley doesn’t tell Ford or McGucket about his encounter with the Hand Witch. There’s no reason to worry them prematurely. But he does start looking into the townspeople a bit more. He wants to know who exactly was in that group of people who had been trying to summon Bill and what for. He starts spending more and more time out of the lab, leaving McGucket to his mechanical work and Ford to bothering McGucket, he’s not entirely sure any work gets done between their bickering and goofing off but he’s not complaining. He doesn’t want to tell them to stop working on the portal but he’s not sure that rushing to complete it is the best idea either.

He spends so much time pouring over the family histories and all of the town records that the librarian just gives him a key and tells him to lock up when he leaves, if he leaves, at some ungodly time in the morning. Lee spends the night in the library more times than not now. He knows that Ford’s starting to get worried, knows that sooner or later Bill’s going to notice what he’s doing, but that only makes him more frantic. Lee starts taking more notes in invisible ink, checking and rechecking all of the information given to him by the demon, and making corrections and revisions when he realizes that the demon hasn’t been telling him the whole truth. He has to figure out what’s going on, he has to.

Lee comes to sitting at the table in the library, an exploded pen in his hand. For a moment he thinks the red is blood and he’s horrified. He doesn’t get the chance to be relieved when he realizes that he’s been writing in his journal. He doesn’t even remember taking it out. But the pages are open and he looks down at his own handwriting.CAN’T BE TRUSTED. His stomach sinks. Red words glare up at him.  DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS. That’s his handwriting. That’s definitely his writing, but he can’t remember actually writing out those words. Worry gnaws at his stomach as he quickly sweeps his things back into his bag and is surprised when he spots his invisible marker out on the table as well. He hadn’t used that last night, had he? Journals one and two are also on the table and his stomach sinks.

Lee flips them all open to their appropriate pages. He rarely has all three out unless he’s looking at the blueprints and knows even if he can’t remember that he must have looked at them last night. He pulls out the blacklight and flips it on. Sure enough his handwriting glows up at him and Stanley feels his stomach sink.

* * *

“I just don’t get why we’re doing this.” Ford says as he helps Lee to dismantle the portal, the very thing that Lee and McGucket have been working on for over a year to complete. “Does this have anything to do with all those late nights you’ve been pulling?”

“Ford just trust me, okay,” Lee’s a little frantic as he tries to figure out how to unwire the circuit board. “Damn it Fids, you didn’t stay on specs.” He mutters. “This was too dangerous, I have no idea what I was thinking, and we need to get rid of it.” He could just smash the thing. Smashing would be quicker but he’s not really looking to get electrocuted to death.

“Okay, but you’re going to have to be straight with me eventually. Besides what are you gonna tell nerd? Or Bill? They’ve been working just as hard on this as you. They’re gonna be pissed to see it trashed.”

“Bill’s feelings don’t concern me.” Lee hisses with such venom Ford actually comes to a full stop to turn and look at him.

“Whoa, did you and your sorority sister have a spat?”

“I don’t know, I can’t remember. Come on Ford we have to get this done before he notices.” He turns back to his work.

“Well hate to burst your bubble, Glasses, but you haven’t been being all that inconspicuous.” Ice slithers down Lee’s spine and he turns to look up at the demon floating in the center of the lab.

“I don’t know what you did to me,” He hisses. “But I’m not going to let you use this machine. I’ve hidden the journals and once we’re finished here you’ll never see it again.”

“That’s too bad, Specs. I really thought that you were gonna be more fun.” Bill snaps his fingers and to Stanley’s surprised horror the portal crackles once before it begins to light up with power. He doesn’t even have the chance to get his hand off the circuit board he was working on before electricity is pulsing through it and he’s being shot back. He spasms for a moment, lying on the ground, while pain rockets through his body. He’s not sure how long he stays like that but when he’s aware of his surroundings again Ford is leaning over him with a panicked expression on his face.

“Shut it down.” He grunts, handing off the ring of keys to the manual override.

“But--”

“Don’t worry about me!” Lee snaps as he forces himself off of the floor. “Just shut it down!” The loose pieces of metal are starting to float and Stanley rushes over to a support beam to grab hold of to keep from losing his footing. “Bill this isn’t going to work, whatever you’re planning, I am going to stop you!” The demon cackles.

“I know you believe that, Glasses, but how are you going to stop me when you don’t exist?” Stanley grunts when he feels an invisible force pulling at his body. He clutches tighter to the beam but the force just yanks harder. His nails scrape against the pillar and he shouts to Stanford over the roar of the portal.

“Ford you’ve got to turn it off!”

“I’m trying!” He realizes with a mounting horror that Ford isn’t going to be able to activate the manual override. They had designed it for three people, believing they would only be activating it together, and without one other person at the very least Stanford won’t be able to turn all the keys at the same time. “Lee, hang on!” Bill’s powers yank on him again and Lee feels his grip slipping.

“Not that this hasn’t been fun, but I have more important things to do with my time.” Bill says casually, as if he’s not trying to kill them all, and he snaps his fingers. The glow of the portal grows even stronger, expanding past the edges of the machine and crackling with energy. The pieces of scrap around the room start to fly through the air and collide with the walls.

“Ford watch out!” He shouts as his brother barely dodges a large piece that could have taken off his head. Relief swells in his chest when he realizes Ford’s alright but when his brother meets his eyes they’re wide and distressed. Lee feels the piece smash against his back and he cries out, the momentary distraction loosening his grip just enough for Bill to yank him from the support beam.

“It’s been fun, Glasses, but you’ve gotten in too deep. Enjoy the apocalypse!” He doesn’t even have the chance to cry out before he’s disappearing into the light.

* * *

“But that’s not how it happened.” Stanford chimes in. He, Stanley, Dipper, and Soos had moved into the kitchen after the teen’s magical outburst and now sit around the table as they tell their story. Lee looks over at him with eyebrows knitted together.

“Yes it is, Ford.”

“No, that’s not what happened. You think I would forget what happened the day I lost you, chump?” Stanley opens his mouth to argue but Dipper cuts him off.

“How do you remember it happening Grunkle Stan?”

* * *

“I just don’t get why we’re doing this.” Ford says as he helps Lee to dismantle the portal, the very thing that Lee and McGucket have been working on for over a year to complete. “Does this have anything to do with all those late nights you’ve been pulling?” He asks with worry tinting his voice.

“Ford just trust me, okay,” Lee’s sounds frantic as he tries to figure out how to unwire the circuit board. “Damn it Fids, you didn’t stay on specs.” He mutters. “This was too dangerous, I have no idea what I was thinking, and we need to get rid of it.” Ford frowns at the section he’s working on. Sometimes he thinks Lee believes he’s too dumb to understand what’s going on.  

“Okay, but you’re going to have to be straight with me eventually. Besides what are you gonna tell nerd? Or Bill? They’ve been working just as hard on this as you. They’re gonna be pissed to see it trashed.” He’s not entirely sure what the dream demon is going to be like pissed, but he doesn’t doubt that it will be terrifying.

“Bill’s feelings don’t concern me.” Ford’s shocked to hear that kind of black anger in Lee’s voice and his worry turns into a sharper concern.

“Whoa, did you and your sorority sister have a spat?”

“I don’t know, I can’t remember. Come on Ford we have to get this done before he notices.” He turns back to his work.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you Glasses!” Ford looks over at the demon who’s just appeared in the room. Bill looks as worried as he can with one eye and no face to speak of. “You can’t just go pulling this apart, it could go haywire. If you were thinking of tearing it down you should have called for me.” He’s surprised that Bill’s not upset to see their work being pulled apart. But of course the guy’s concerned about their safety, he always has been.

“I don’t know what you did to me,” His brother hisses with obvious paranoia. “But I’m not going to let you use this machine. I’ve hidden the journals and once we’re finished here you’ll never see it again.”

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about, Specs. Wait, don’t!” Stanley turns back to the circuit board and yanks out the panel, sending sparks flying through the air. Stanford calls out as his brother goes down, spasming on the floor, as he’s electrocuted. Ford rushes to his side, heart pounding and not entirely sure what to do to help, when the machine starts to whine and groan as it powers up. Lee blinks up at him after a moment.

“Shut it down.” He grunts, handing off the ring of keys to the manual override.

“But--”

“Don’t worry about me!” Lee snaps as he forces himself off of the floor. “Just shut it down!” The loose pieces of metal are starting to float and Stanley rushes over to a support beam to grab hold of to keep from losing his footing. “Bill this isn’t going to work, whatever you’re planning, I am going to stop you!” The demon stares at Lee.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Just stay still, we’ll get the portal shut down!” Bill’s powers encase Lee’s body in a bright yellow glow, but the portal’s energy is increasing and so is its effect on the gravity in the lab. Ford scrambles over to the override as quickly as he can, gripping the thick power cables to keep himself grounded.

“Ford you’ve got to turn it off!”

“I’m trying!” He realizes with a mounting horror that he’s not going to be able to activate the manual override. They had designed it for three people, believing they would only be activating it together, and without one other person at the very least he’s not going to be able to turn all the keys at the same time. “Lee, hang on! Bill help me!” The demon seems to be having some trouble of his own keeping his balance but he floats over none the less. “We have to turn the keys! On the count of three! One, two, three!” The keys turn in succession and the shutdown button appears. Ford doesn’t even have the chance to feel relief as the glow of the portal grows even stronger, expanding past the edges of the machine and crackling with energy. The pieces of scrap around the room start to fly through the air and collide with the walls.

“Ford watch out!” Lee shouts as a large piece of metal comes flying towards him. Bill deflects it with a wave of his hand and Ford tries to move towards the killswitch. He makes eye contact with Lee when he’s only a few feet from the button and watches with dread as a piece of scrap, much larger than the one that he’s almost been hit by, flies towards his brother. It too gets surrounded by a yellow glow and knocked off course.

“Not to rush you or anything Stanford but pressing that button now rather than later would probably be a good idea.” Bill remarks with false cheerfulness. Ford glances over at the demon, spots another piece of debris heading towards the creature, but doesn’t have time to shout out a warning before Bill is sent tumbling through the air. His bright glow dims for a moment and Ford hears Stanley cry out. His head whips back to his brother and he screams as he watches Lee get sucked into the portal.

“STANLEY!” As his brother disappears the light admitted by the machine doubles as metal creaks and groans. Concrete is ripped from the walls and Stanford is certain that he’s about to be sucked into the portal as well. But the machine can’t support this amount of output and he watches, despair in his heart, as it cannibalizes itself. The metal curls into the portal and then, in one sudden too bright flash it’s gone. “Stanley.” He croaks after landing on the hard ground littered with debris. He wheels around and spots Bill. “Bring him back!”

“I can’t do that, I don’t even know where he went.”

“You let him go! You have to bring him back! Bring him back, damn it!”

“I can’t, Stanford!” The demon stresses. “I would if I could but I can’t!”

“He’s my brother! I was supposed to protect him, you have to bring him back, you have to!” His legs are starting to shake and his breath is growing short as his chest tightens.

“I’m sorry.” The demon says in a small voice. It sinks in slowly. The demon can’t fix it this time.

“Get out.”

“Stan--”

“GET OUT!” The human roars. “This is your fault! You’re the one he was afraid of! I don’t know why but you’re the one that he wanted to keep this away from! You’re the reason this happened! You’re the reason he’s gone! Get out!” The demon flinches back.

“Okay, Stanford...I’m gone.” And he is with one flash of golden light. That’s not enough. Stanford storms upstairs and finds his brother’s bag. He digs out the bracelet that the demon had gifted him with before going into the drawer of Lee’s nightstand and pulling out the box of teeth. He’s furious, he’s shaking, as he dumps the items into a tin can and sets them on fire. The objects burn brightly for a few moments before extinguishing with a whisper of smoke and the echoing sound of screams. His face is wet as he stares into the ashes. He doesn’t even know when he started crying.

* * *

“Bill wasn’t trying to help me, he’s the one that threw me in!” Stanley snaps.

“That’s not what I remember!”

“Look guys, don’t argue--” Dipper tries.

“Yeah, besides I know how we can settle this.” All four men turn to the side door with a look of surprise at the new voice entering the conversation. Mabel stands in the doorway with a small smile and relief floods Dipper’s chest. He immediately stands and goes over to wrap her in a hug.

“I was worried, I’m so glad you’re alright.” He says holding her at arms length to check her over for injuries.

“You’re such a worrywort, bro bro.” He lets Mabel poke his nose.

“Yeah, I know. Did you find everyone?”

“Yeah, Wendy,’s dad and brother’s were out of town on a camping trip so she’s heading over here with Candy and Grenda once they’re finished getting their stuff. Pacifica’s grabbing her bag and I’ve got McGucket waiting outside.” They let go of each other and Mabel turns to beam a blinding smile at Stanley. “Nice to meet you Grampa Lee, I’m your lovable granddaughter Mabel!” She reaches over the table and picks up one of Stanley’s hands and gives it two enthusiastic pumps before letting him go. “And I can totally settle this argument with even worse junk than you were expecting.” She reaches into the pocket of her hoodie and pulls out a rolled up medium sized piece of cloth and lays it out on the table. “I think it’s safe to say that Bill’s probably plotting the end of the world and that you probably did find out about it and that he’s definitely the one who threw you through that portal.”

“Where did you get this?” Stanley asks before anyone else can speak.

“Pacifica’s. That anomaly really smashed up her house and we found a secret room behind an old painting.  It had a whole bunch of weird junk all about her ancestors and this,” She says with a dark kind of excitement. “Was back there too.”

“Dudes am I the only one worried about the burning tree in the middle?” Soos asks.

“No, I’m right there with you Soos.” Mabel adds giving her brother a meaningful look. “There’s only one tree I know that’s got any importance to Bill, and trust me I do not like seeing it burning.”

“Hmm.” Stanley looks over the tapestry for a long moment before looking up at his grandchildren. “Did you say McGucket’s here?”

“Yeah, He brought your laptop, I’ll go get him.” She wanders out of the room as Stanley’s eyes widen.

“But I left that down in the bunker? How did you get your hands on it?” He turns to Stan. “Did you show them down there?”

“No the brats found it using your dumb journals.” Ford grumbles. “He’s down there all the time rebuilding.”

“Really?”

“Uh, yeah, the first couple of times weren’t all that pleasant, but we’ve done a lot over the past couple of years. Wendy’s certified as an EMT so she helped me stock an infirmary and I’ve got the entire ventilation system hooked up so its self-sufficient without having to pump in air from the forest--”

“And it’s where he goes to canoodle with Bill.” Mabel adds indelicately, causing Dipper to flush and Stanley to clear his throat.

“Seriously Mabel? There are more important things going on here.”

“Lee? That’s really you?” McGucket asks and Stanley stands up.

“Fids, you’re a wreck, what happened to you, buddy?” The two old men embrace.

“The nerd founded the Society of the Blind eye after the accident so he could forget about everything to do with the supernatural. It backfired and he went nuts until a couple years ago when these two meddlers got into and got him sane again.” Stanford offers as explanation before turning back to Dipper and Mabel. “Which is why you found those news clippings that said I was dead. He zapped the entire town’s memory of Stanley but everyone knew that there was someone missing. I crashed the car, hoping to make people think he’d died in an accident so they wouldn’t come poking around and asking questions before I skipped town. Everyone thought it had to be me who’d died because they couldn’t remember that Stanley existed but they also knew that story didn’t make sense and thought I had been the one to murder him. But by the time I came back into town the Blind Eye had done so many wipes that no one remembered anything about the incident.”

“I just didn’t know how to cope after you’d both gone.” McGucket wails. “You two were my best friends and then I lost you in one fell swoop!”

“It’s okay, Fids. Mabel said you have the laptop?” Stanley asks gently.

“I’ve got it right here.” The old man pulls it out of a tattered burlap sack. Stanley takes it and boots it up, typing in his password which Stanford reads over his shoulder and snorts.

“Shut up, Ford.” The countdown greets him, marking thirteen days until the clock reaches zero. “I still can’t remember what the countdown is until, but I know it’s all about Bill’s plans, and I know that he’s going to do something that tampers with the whole of reality. If we can’t figure it out and stop it before this clock reaches zero then the entire world could be doomed.” He glances over at Dipper whose face is strangely calm for someone who’s just found out his boyfriend? Really? How does that even work?, is planning on ending the world. “I’m sorry kid but banishing him is going to be the least of our problems at this point.”

He’s not the only one staring at Dipper for his reaction. His sister hovers closer to his side, delicate fingers with sparkly pastel pink nailpolish resting on his shoulder. Stanford looks concerned too, though he tries to hide it under furrowed brows and a downwards turned mouth. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a new girl with long blonde hair enter the room she opens her mouth to speak but as soon as she notices the tension she falls silent. Poor kid, Lee thinks looking at his grandson, he’d been good friends with Bill before the betrayal, but Dipper’s in way deeper than he had been. This is going to crush him. He’s fully expecting for some kind of meltdown, some yelling, and denying, and screaming and crying, but he doesn’t get that. Instead Dipper sighs deeply, fingers tracing over the woven pattern of the tree on the tapestry, before covering his sister’s hand with his own and looking up at the rest of the people surrounding the table.

“Okay. Well if Bill’s trying to destroy the world then it’s a good thing I’ve got a contingency plan.” He gives the room an easy smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and squares his shoulders. Lee stares at the kid in front of him for a long moment, and couldn’t be more proud to call him his grandson.


	7. pull awaY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All things end.

Dipper squares his shoulders and gives Mabel’s hand one final squeeze before standing up. He’s prepared for this. He knows what he needs to do. Dipper rolls up the tapestry and takes it with him as he exits the room. He makes a quick stop in the living room to pull the matchbook out of his backpack before continuing on into the gift shop. He hears his friends and family calling him, asking him where he’s going and what he’s doing but he doesn’t answer for two reasons. Dipper stops in front of the gift shop rug and takes a deep breath before striking a match and throwing it onto the carpet. The first because he doesn’t want Bill to know what he’s up to and the second because he’s not sure if he can keep his voice from trembling.

“Dipper what are you doing?!” Mabel cries.

“Soos get the fire extinguisher!”

“Got it Mr. Pines!”  Dipper tosses the tapestry onto the flames.

“Dipper!” Mabel sounds more annoyed now than distressed. Before Soos can spray the growing blaze the two pieces of cloth shriek briefly before the fire blinks out of existence and all that’s left is a pile of Stan’s arrest warrants, completely unsinged.

“Everybody calm down.” He finally speaks. “Look any image of Bill can be used like a peephole for him, even when he’s been banished. So I need everyone to look around and destroy anything that even remotely resembles Bill. Burning works best and the fires will go out as soon as the image has been destroyed. Okay?” Everyone looks at him like he’s gone a little insane but Mabel is quick to nod.

“Okay, break team!” She says before taking hold of Pacifica’s hand and leading her out of the room. Soon everyone has left except for Stan and Dipper doesn’t know if he wants to hear what he has to say.

“I’m sorry about all this kiddo.” He doesn’t look the older man in the eyes as he shrugs.

“Like I said, I have a plan. I never thought he was just hanging around because he liked us.” His words don’t convince himself or Stan, who claps him on the shoulder and squeezes reassuringly. “I really will be okay, Grunkle Stan.” And this time he’s a little more sure of himself. He will be fine. Eventually. “I’m glad Mabel didn’t press that button.” He admits softly and Stan’s grip tightens a little.

“Me too kiddo.”

“But I don’t understand why you didn’t tell us about it. Did you think we wouldn’t have wanted to help you get your brother back?”

“I just wanted to keep you kids safe.” Stan says with eyes imploring for Dipper to understand. “You saw how bad this got, if you had known you would have been accomplices and I wasn’t about to do that to you.”

“Okay Stan, I get it, but next time you build a giant machine to another dimension in order to save a long lost relative, tell us.” He gives a weak smile. “We can handle it. And anything else that get’s thrown at us if you haven’t noticed.”

“Course I noticed. You two have grown so much since you’ve been here. More than I like at times. You were two innocent kids before you came here, but now you two have been through so much,” Dipper’s surprised when his Grunkle’s voice quivers as he sees the man’s eyes go misty. “I should have taken better care of you. I should have made you stay at home after that first summer. You two should have never had to grow up like this.”

“We grew up to be exactly who we were supposed to be. Even if we hadn’t been here Mabel and I wouldn’t have forgotten and we would have come back eventually. We were always going to end up in Gravity Falls, Stan, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’ve been the best Grunkle anyone could ask for and you took better care of us than anyone else ever has. We love you Stan.” The old man sniffles and pulls Dipper into a hug which he returns. They’re both surprised when another set of arms wraps around them.

“Why are we hugging and crying?” Mabel asks as she squeezes both men tightly. Dipper snorts a laugh.

“Just reminding Grunkle Stan we love him.”

“D’aw, we shouldn’t have to remind you of that Grunkle Stan! It’s never been a question!” Mabel squishes them all tightly and both men wheeze a little.

“Too tight, sweetie.”

“Yeah I think he’s got the idea Mabes, you can let go now.”

“NEVER! You are trapped within my loving embrace for all time!” She cackles and her breath flares across Dipper’s shoulder.

“Soos bring the crowbar!” Stan shouts.

“Nothing can separate us!”

“Mabel let go of them.” Pacifica instructs boredly from the edge of the room.

“Nope.”

“Let go and come hold my hand.” Dipper feels Mabel stiffen. Pacifica is always particular about her hands. She doesn’t like to hold them because she says that hands tend to be filthy and Mabel’s often sticky or glittery so it’s only on rare occasions that she offers her partner the chance. She extends a hand, palm up, and Mabel makes a surprised sound before she’s releasing him and Stan and running over to weave her and Pacifica’s fingers together. She falls into place beside the other girl and smiles serenely at their hands. “We got rid of all the Bill look-alikes. Now what?”

“Stay here.” The warmth from a moment ago disappears and Dipper heads towards his and Mabel’s bedroom. They’ve got more than just pictures to worry about.

* * *

Dipper steps over the debris from yesterday and goes into his and Mabel’s room. Books are everywhere and their furniture is all overturned and scattered across the room. There’s also a liberal dusting of sequins and glitter which tells him that Mabel’s crafting supplies must have been thrown open. Dipper steps over most of the mess until he finally finds the nightstand. The warding spells have kept the drawer sealed shut so he takes a moment to disable them before pulling out all of his research on Bill. A pit of dread appears in his stomach. He’s going to have to come clean about more that he really wants to if he’s going to keep everyone safe.

He looks at the blood magic book and then tosses it further into the mess. Mabel doesn’t need to know he knows, and he doesn’t want anyone else to find out. She’s doing a good job of acting cheerful right now but he’s seen the way she looked at Stanley. Her eyes are sharp and cold when she thinks that others aren’t watching. Or perhaps he’s only noticed because they’re so close. He knows Pacifica’s noticed too. Saw the way she viciously clutched Mabel’s hand when her amulet had glowed. Dipper’s not sure how dark his sister’s magic has gotten but he’s not about to bring that up in front of anyone else. It’s none of their business anyway. And, he admits to himself with a weight in his chest, her darkness might be their best defence against Bill. He sighs and gathers up the rest of his notes before heading back into the living room.

Everyone has gathered, and he does mean everyone, by the time he comes back. Wendy and Soos are chatting in the corner while Candy and Grenda talk in hushed voices to Pacifica and Mabel. The original Mystery Trio also appears to be having a serious conversation and Dipper swallows hard as he realizes how bad this is all going to get once Bill figures out what they’re doing. He looks at them and just sees bags of flesh that Bill is going to want to break when he has a temper tantrum.

“Okay, I need you guys to paint these symbols around all of the doors and windows.” Dipper produces a piece of paper. “It doesn’t matter how big or what order, just make sure that you make all of them.”

“Okay, what are we supposed to use for paint?”

“Yeah that’s the unpleasant part of demonic warding.” He mutters. “You’ve got to use the blood of the people who live in the house.” Dipper doesn’t fidget as everyone stares at him. “So Mabel, Stan, we’re going to have to bleed.” He looks over at Wendy. “Can you make the cuts? I don’t want to accidentally slit something important.”

“Uh, yeah, sure Dipper.”

“Wait a sec, I’ll go get some cups.” Soos says before heading out.

“I’ll get my paintbrushes.” Mabel announces.

“The wards are more powerful if they’re applied using hands.” Dipper informs everyone with a cringe.

“Oh okay, ew. Nope.” Pacifica says and shakes her head. “I am not smearing anyone’s blood across the wall with my bare hands.”

“Come on sunshine, you deal with more blood than this on a monthly basis.” Mabel squeezes her hand. “Besides you’ve got the easy part, I’ve gotta get cut open!” Pacifica snorts.

“Fine, but I’m just working with your blood.”

“Fair enough.” Soos returns with the cups and Dipper takes out the first aid kit from his backpack do Wendy can clean them up when they’re done before handing her his blessed dagger.

“Where should I cut?”

“Across the palm.”

“Yeesh, really dude? There are a lot of nerve endings there. That’s really going to hurt and it’s going to take a long time to heal.”

“I know, but magic pools in the hands so it has to be here.”

“You’re all probably going to need stitches.” She warns before swiping the blade across Dipper’s palm. He inhales sharply at the pain but he’s had far worse so he keeps quiet and bleeds into one of the cups that Soos provided. Wendy disinfects the blade with rubbing alcohol before waving Mabel over and repeating the process with her and Stan. She lets them all bleed for five minutes before forcing them to put pressure on the wounds.

“Alright, go draw the ward directly on the doors and windows. If they were broken yesterday stick your hand out to where it should be and draw in mid-air. It should still take and the blood should appear to be floating.”

“Where did you find all of this stuff, kid?” Stanley asks.

“I’ve been researching defense against demons for a few years now.” Wendy applies antiseptic to his hand and he hisses.

“I don’t have anything to numb the area.” She warns as she takes up a suture.

“I love you,” Dipper says with a sigh. “You’re bedside manner is really great and I know that this is asking a lot from you, but _seriously_? You know I’ve had my ass kicked all across this forest and been tortured, sometimes _for fun_ , and you’re worried about giving me stitches without anesthesia?” Wendy jabs her needle into his hand and he jumps slightly.

“You were saying tough guy?” Dipper’s cheeks flush. He might love her a little more for calling him out on his macho buddy bullshit. He’s glad that they’ve stayed friends over the years because that’s exactly what he needs right now. Wendy starts working then, a clean line of ten black stitches running across his hand. Stanley wraps the wound while she moves on to work on Stan and Mabel and everyone else takes a portion of blood and goes off to seal the house.

* * *

“Now what oh supremely knowledgeable one?” Pacifica asks with a sarcasm that doesn’t hide her worry very well. Dippe knows that she’s always been freaked out about Bill and everyone else is starting to look more nervous as the day winds down. It’ll be dark in a couple of hours and the Shack is starting to get colder. They’re going to have to do this next part quickly.

“Bill’s strong enough now to tamper with memories. I noticed it for the first time last summer and I’m pretty certain that’s why Grunkle Stan’s memories are so different from Stanley’s.” Dipper tells the room. “But we can destroy the tampering by going into the person’s mind and tearing out the blue strings.” He looks over at McGucket, Grenda, Candy, Wendy, and Soos. “Is there still any of my blood left?”

“Yeah, just a bit though.” Grenda answers peering into a cup.

“That’s fine, there are only two doors anyway, McGucket will you take them to the bunker?”

“What? But what about the mind strings?” Mabel asks.

“Bill’s never been really interested in any of them, hell I think he’s spoken directly to Candy or Grenda once, maybe? No, they should get going. Ward the bunker.”

“But no one lives in the Bunker.” Stanley chimes in.

“I’ve spent the night there more than once,” He turns to preemptively glare at his sister. “Not a word about that.” She pretends to lock her mouth shut and bats her eyelashes at him innocently. “The spell will recognize that I’m the closest thing to a resident.” He nods towards the group. “Go on, we’ll meet you there in a little while. Make sure you don’t talk about where you’re going or what you’re doing on your way there. Bill’s probably noticed that something’s wrong by now and he might try to watch you.” The second group says their goodbyes before heading out, leaving Dipper, the Stans, Pacifica and Mabel lingering together in the living room.

“Are we using the spell from the journal?” Mabel asks.

“Yeah, Pacifica will go into your mind and tear up any blue threads she sees, Stan and Stanley will do the same with each other, and then you’ll check my head.” He opens the journal to the page with the incantation. “That sound good to everyone?”

“Yeah. Come on let’s get this done.” Stan grumbles.

* * *

Pacifica doesn’t really know what she was expecting to see in Mabel’s mind. She should have expected this. Colors and sparkles are everywhere and her memories appear to be housed within a giant funhouse. She picks her way across the field of flowers surrounding the structure and heads towards the building. The door swings open at the gentlest touch and she’s greeted by the smell of fresh pastries. Mabel was supposed to have focused on the past seven years only before she’d fallen asleep so that they would be at the forefront of her mind. Pacifica opens the first door on her left to see if she’s done so and is greeted with the memory of their first meeting. She smiles a little. Wow. She’d been such a little brat back then. Pacifica almost wishes she could go back and tell herself that she was going to fall madly in love with the ‘silly loser’, just to see that look of superiority slide off her face.

Pacifica shuts the door and takes a more careful look around, opening a couple of other doors before she gets a sense of Mabel’s mind. The lavender and baby pink doors are memories of them together, the ones that are blue and magenta are memories of her and Dipper, and the ones that are grey with a dark red stripe running down the center are the ones Mabel likes to pretend aren’t there. She stumbles out of the memory of Mabel decapitating the Gnome and almost vomits. Pacifica has to sit down after that, head between her knees and taking a few deep breaths. She’s known about that incident for years but it’s different seeing it. Watching the way Mabel crucified the creature as he screamed and begged for mercy. Her eyes had been so dead.

While crouched on the floor Pacifica sees thin blue strings weaving through the orange shag carpet. She picks up a one and follows it to a yellow door. She’s not sure if she wants to know what the memories are so she cracks it open just long enough to watch what happens when she pulls on the strand and snaps it. The blue inside the memory vanishes, all the smaller strings inconsequential as the anchor is destroyed. She kneels back on the carpet and gathers every last blue thread, ten in total, within her hands and gives them one mighty tug. They snap with a soft pop before they turn to mist in her hands. Pacifica stands and heads back towards the front door. Her fingers brush over the gleaming knob of the brightest sparkling pink and purple door and she hesitates. Is this Mabel’s best memory of them together? She doesn’t even have a chance to make a decision before the door is swinging open.

“What are you doing out there silly?” Memory Mabel pulls her past the threshold. “I made cupcakes.” The memory isn’t a memory, Pacifica realizes immediately. They’re standing in a large unfamiliar kitchen decorated in cheerful pastels and on the island at the center of the room there are several dozen cupcakes. “I made cupcakes!”

“Mabel,” She stops when she hears a new voice call out.

“Mommy, can I have a cupcake?”

“Me too, me too!” The little boy and girl who come around the corner are about seven. The little girl has Mabel’s brown hair and eyes while the little boy has Pacifica’s features. Her heart squeezes. This must be Mabel’s dream.

“Okay, but only one! No spoiling dinner, or whatever that fluff is that adults are supposed to say.” Mabel winks at the children. The sun glints off the other girl’s wedding ring and Pacifica looks down to see a matching one gleaming on her finger. She raises a hand to cover her mouth as tears fill her eyes.

“You’re such a loser.” She mumbles. “You keep running away from me and _this_ is what you’re dreaming of?”

“Mom, why are you crying?” The little girl calls out to her and Pacifica can’t handle it. She needs to leave. Now. The blonde runs through the door and down the hallway to the exit, and as soon as she’s in the field of flowers she’s pulling herself out of Mabel’s mind.

Pacifica takes a deep breath and Mabel sits upright with a gasp.

“Woof, that was weird.” Mabel says to herself before turning to Pacifica. “Did you get em all? Were there a lot?” The younger girl sounds a strange mixture of hopeful and afraid and Pacifica is painfully aware of why. Mabel doesn’t want to believe that Bill’s been messing with her mind for the past seven years, but if he has been then she might not be responsible for doing all of the things that haunt her and fill her dreams with blood.

“I got them all.” She doesn’t say anything else before she pulls Mabel into a kiss. Her lips go soft and surprised, just like they always do when she’s kissed, and Pacifica presses closer. She wants that dream more than she’s wanted anything in her life. Her tongue slips between Mabel’s teeth and she tastes every inch of her before she finally pulls away.

“Wow.” A flush has risen in her lover’s cheeks. “What did I do to deserve that and how can I use it to get more of your kisses?” Pacifica laughs and rests her head against Mabel’s shoulder.

“You keep ruining the moment.” She mutters. “And I know you know you’re doing it. You’ve been actively ruining the moment for two months, loser.” Mabel stiffens slightly. “As soon as this is all over I’m going to have my moment. I’ll chain you up and duct tape your mouth if I have to, but I’ll have my moment.”

“Duct taping my mouth might be a bad idea, considering…”

“Oh my god shut up.” She huffs a laugh against her shoulder. “You loser.”

“Brat.”

* * *

Dipper lets the two girls have their moment, pretending to be absorbed with his reading while Stanley is still in Stan’s mind. He’s probably got the toughest job. Stan’s mind was completely tangled with Bill’s influence last year, who knows how much more extensive the damage has gotten since then.

“Hey bro bro, you ready?” Mabel asks and he looks up at her.

“Yeah.” He closes his eyes and lays back. Then again maybe he’s not even actually in love with Bill. Maybe it’s all been one big manipulation. He’s not sure if he wants that or not and he debates it silently as he hears Mabel begin to chant. Then he’s out and there’s nothing but darkness.

* * *

He gasps and sits upright. Mabel is staring down at him with eyebrows pulled together and chewing on the inside of her cheek in her worried way. He sifts through his mind, trying to see if he feels any different. Dipper frowns when he realizes that nothing seems to have changed.

“What’s wrong? Did it not work?”

“It worked, I was in your mind bro bro. I saw your memories, speaking of which you gotta mark those more clearly! Seriously I saw you naked way more more than any sister ever wants to see their brother naked!” He flushes. What can he say he's a horny teenager with a s.o. who doesn’t have a refractory period. “But I couldn’t find any blue stings.”

“None?” He croaks.

“Sorry bro.” He swallows and nods.

“Okay, thanks for looking.”

“On a different note the spell’s not working on Lee.” Stan announces. “I can’t get into his mind, I just sort of bounce off.”

“I even tried to get in and the same thing happened.” Pacifica adds.

“That’s never happened before.” Dipper states as he looks at Stanley.

“Maybe its because he was in that other dimension.” Mabel suggests. “But if we can’t get in that means Bill can’t get in, so we don’t have to worry about his tampering here.”

“Yeah but that also means we can’t recover whatever memories that Stanley had about Bill’s plan, whatever he found out that was so important that he actually threw him into a new reality, is really gone. We’ve got to start over.” Dipper says with a dejected sigh. He runs a hand through his hair and feels a weariness settling deep into his bones. “Alright, Mabel will you get the crown?”

“Sure.” She exits the room and is only gone for a couple of minutes before she’s bringing the grotesque gift back, holding it in her hands without any trace of disgust. He never thought he’d see the day.

“Thanks. Now you guys can head to the Bunker too.”

“And leave you here on your own? Not gonna happen, kid.” Stan says stubbornly.

“Look I have to do this last thing on my own.”

“The ‘on my own’ movie bullshit usually ends badly Dip.” Pacifica informs him blandly.

“Look, I want to say goodbye okay?” The remaining party glances at one another.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Stanley says with a frown.

“I don’t care what you think.” Dipper says bluntly. “I really don’t. I’ve been well-prepared, I’ve been careful, and I’ve been smart. But this is my boyfriend we’re having to fight, my world that’s imploding, so I think at the very fucking least I should be able to have an honest breakup with him on my own.” He picks up his backpack and swings into over his shoulder. “This isn’t a discussion or a debate, I don’t want your opinions, and if you all want to be pissed about this, then fine. But do it at the Bunker. I need--” He clears his throat. “I need this.”

Mabel glances at Pacifica and the blonde heads out of the room without protest and then Mabel turns her steely gaze on their Grunkle and Grandfather. Both men hesitate but the glare intensifies and Stan scowls as he follows Pacifica out, Stanley shooting one last concerned look before following his brother. Then it’s just him and Mabel. It always comes down to them. She doesn’t say anything at first, just moves in close and gives him a tight hug. He doesn’t let himself relax into it, knowing that if he does he’ll break down right here and he can’t do that. Not now.

“I’m so sorry Dipper.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know. If you need me after I’ll be waiting. Be careful.”

“Thanks sis.” She heads out after the others somberly and Dipper stands in the living room for a long moment, listening to the house creak and letting the cold air settle into his bones. He doesn’t think that he could have ever been ready for this, even after all his preparation, but the sun’s setting and he needs to be in the Bunker before dark so he walks, like a man to the noose, into the gift shop.

* * *

Dipper sits on the porch and waits. It doesn’t take long for Bill to show up.

“Hey Pine Tree, did Glasses finally calm down? Sheesh, see a guy for the first time in forty years and you don’t even stop to say hi? Nope! Just banish, banish, banish.” Dipper stares at the demon. He thought that maybe seeing him now, knowing what he knows, that his chest wouldn’t grow warm from looking at him. He climbs to his feet and reaches out a hand to catch one of the demon’s.

“Hey.”

“Hey? I already said that? We’re you too distracted to hear my witty quips?”

“Yeah, a little. Sorry.” He presses his forehead against the demon’s and closes his eyes.

“You alright Dipping Dots?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about earlier.” He murmurs, taking the demons hands and pressing soft kisses to them like he had that afternoon. “I love you.” He presses his lips against the top of the demon’s head, against his eyelid, and he fights back the sob that wants to escape his chest and straightens his shoulders. He curls his hands around Bill’s body and pulls him in close, presses his lips so hard against where his mouth should be that his lips feel like they’re going to split and bruise. Dipper clenches his hands so tightly he feels his stitches tear and blood start to seep into the bandages, but he doesn’t let go of the demon. He holds on tight until the demon forces him to move back a little with gentle hands on his cheeks.

“What’s wrong, Pine Tree? What happened while I was gone?” Dipper looks at his blood smeared against Bill’s body and his lips ache. He removes Bill’s hands from his face and steps through the gift shop door. The demon moves to follow and makes a surprised sound when he bounces off of the wards. “Wow Glasses has been busy huh? Come let me in Pine Tree.” His throat is tight as he moves over to the counter. “Pine Tree?”

“I always knew, you know that, I always suspected that there was something else going on.” His hands are shaking as he unclasps his necklace and pulls it off. The teeth are still warm from pressing against his skin as he places it down on the counter next to the flower crown and the hammer. He hears Bill make a quiet humming sound. “You figure it out?” Bill doesn’t reply and Dipper can’t bring himself to look up at him just yet. “I always knew that this didn’t mean anything, not in the grand scheme of your plans at least. It might have meant a little amusement, I mean, you don’t have the patience to put on an act for three years without getting something out of it in return.”  He lights a match and presses it to the intestines. They go up with a roar and burn bright blue.

“Come on Pine Tree, it wasn’t just about entertainment.”

“Maybe not. You did protect us, and you did train us, and I’m grateful for that,” he looks at the creature and the world is starting to go grayscale around him. “I really am, Bill. You saved our lives and what you taught us I’m sure is going to save us in the future, but that doesn’t make up for whatever it is you’re planning on doing.”

“Dipping Sauce, I let Glasses come back, you’ve got to know that, I could have destroyed Stanford’s machine at any time in the past seven years but I didn’t.”

“Don’t try and tell me you were making amends!” Dipper snarls at the door. “Don’t try and manipulate me, Bill! I know you better than that! Whatever reason you have for letting Stan get his brother back, the brother that you sent away for _forty years_ it wasn’t for his benefit and I’m going to find out why.” He picks up the hammer and looks down at the necklace. “I love you, but this all stops now. I’m not going to let you get away with whatever you’re planning, and you’re not welcome here anymore.” He raises the hammer and brings it down without hesitation. Three teeth shatter under the impact and he raises it again. He breaks tooth after tooth with his heart in this throat.

“I didn’t claim you for no reason, Pine Tree!” Bill’s starting to blur around the edges as he’s pulled towards the Mindscape. “I wanted this to be you and me, kid, till the end of everything. We could be together, forever, Pine Tree.” The demon sounds sincere and Dipper thinks that it’s entirely possible that he is. He’d read the book on courtship. It tends to be a permanent thing. That doesn’t change anything. Dipper’s always known that he’d choose good over evil just like he’s always known Bill will choose power over him. “Pine Tree, we don’t have to do this.” He almost sounds sad and the human raises the hammer again. Three teeth left.

“Yes we do, Bill.” He lowers the hammer.

“Dipper!” His hand twitches at the last second and he only manages to destroy two of the three teeth. He looks with wide eyes towards the demon just as he’s ripped out of this reality. The lump in his throat doesn’t lessen with the disappearance of the demon. His hands shake as he raises the hammer one final time. But he never brings it down against the tooth. Bill’s gone. He shoves the last tooth hanging on the thin black leather cord into his pocket. Only one more thing to do.

Dipper picks up his dagger and turns his arm so he can see the tattooed image of Bill staring up at him. He takes a breath before sinking the blade through the skin and drags it across before lifting it out and making the same motion across the other side. Blood trickles down from the new wounds, making an 'x' through Bill’s eye and the mark flares blue once as the image’s usefulness disappears. Dipper doesn’t bother to bandage the thin wound or check on his hand. He’ll deal with them when he gets to the Bunker.

* * *

The sun is just barely hanging over the edge of the horizon when he gets to the Bunker and he’s not surprised to see Mabel sitting in the dirt outside. They stare at each other for a long minute before she climbs to her feet and walks over to him. She presses her palms against his cheeks and that’s it. That’s all he can take. The sobs that tear out of his chest hurt and the world feels like it’s shaking apart at the seams and his heart feels like it popped. He slumps into her tight embrace. Mabel holds onto him and lets him grieve, gives him the opportunity to breakdown, and swears that she’ll never let him hurt like this again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was fun.


	8. peace keePing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Or lack thereof) Everyone's in the Bunker and the world going to end if they don't stop it. Things are a little tense.

Mabel forces Dipper to lay down for a while. She pushes him back onto a cot and gives him a tall glass of water.

“We kind of don’t have time for this Mabel…”

“You’ve done too much today, these past two days, you need to rest, just for a little while.” She insists with soft hands pressing against his shoulders. “I’ll come get you for dinner and then you can start freaking out again. Until then please stay in bed?”

“Okay…” He doesn’t look like he could really argue much if he wanted to. His eyes are ringed with the red of crying and the darkness of two stressfully mostly sleepless days, his hair is mussed and there’s stubble on his chin. His tee-shirt is rumpled and his skin looks too pale, pale enough that the white bandages taped to his palm and forearm don’t stick out starkly against his skin.

“Good. I’ll come get you in a little while.” She leaves the small room and shuts the door behind her. Her hands are trembling at her sides so she clenches them into fists. She’s never seen Dipper that upset. She’s never wanted to see him this upset. Too bad, she supposes as she heads down the concrete corridors. It doesn’t matter what they wanted or what they’d been hoping for. This is what they’ve got and that’s all there is to it.

* * *

Mabel walks into the common area and pauses. Stanley is sitting at the table with his laptop and what looks like a cup of tea. He’s not quite identical to Stan, she realizes, and the way he holds himself is stiffer than Stan. His shoulders are squared even when he appears to be relaxing and she notices that the lines around his eyes have not softened any. She knows that look. Mabel walks over to the table and sits down across from him.

“I made tea if you want some?” His voice is soft and kind. She imagines at one point he was a friendly man who smiled all the time. Now he has frown lines almost as deep as Stan’s and wrinkles that suggest for the past forty years he’s done a lot of scowling.

“No thanks Gramps.” She doesn’t bother to inflate her voice with chipperness and that really gets Grampa Lee to look at her. His eyes shift from tentatively inviting to calculating. “Do you mind if I call you Gramps, or Grampa Lee? I can’t just call you ‘Stan’ that would cause all sorts to confusion.”

“I think it might.” The older man agrees and shuts the laptop. “I don’t mind either though.”

“Okay, then Gramps, we haven’t really gotten to talk yet and I think we should fix that.” She smiles but it’s cold and hard. She doesn’t have a real smile for anyone today. “You and Bill were really close before all of this, right?”

“Yes we were.” The old man’s tone is clipped and tight.

“Were you ever involved romantically with him?” The question seems to startle Stanley.

“No, I didn’t even know that was a possibility.” He stares at her. “Why?”

“I just wanted to establish something. See I get the whole pissed about being betrayed by  friend, I completely get the wanting revenge against a bad dude _believe me_ ,” Her hands feel like they’re slick with blood even though her skin is spotless. “But I need you to put that on the backburner because Dipper deserves revenge too but he’s too good of a person to take it himself.” She runs a hand through her short hair. “Not like us.”

“You noticed that, did you?”

“Bill’s been training us for a couple of years. I’m more familiar with darkness than anyone else here. Of course I noticed the way you hold yourself.” She leans back in the chair and crosses her legs. “You sit too straight, like a soldier, and you’re too tense. Wherever you went you were fighting more than you weren’t.”

“You’re more observant than I thought you were.” Stanley admits. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some tea?”

“I prefer juice. Now Dipper’s not going to seek revenge on Bill, he just won’t, he’ll fight him and he’ll stop him but he won’t do that for himself. But I am going to hurt him. I am going to rip that little monster in half, with my teeth if I have to, and no one is going to get in the way of that.”

“All I need is to stop Bill.” He replies picking up the cup. “Stopping him is enough revenge for me, especially now that I’m back home with my family.” Stanley stares into the young woman’s steely brown eyes. There’s a fire in her, an iron in her skin, that reminds him of Phyllis, and a weight on her shoulders that tells him she’s grown up too fast. “I’m more interested in making it out of this alive so that I can strengthen those bonds.” Mabel stares at him for another long moment before her eyes soften, just a tiny touch, and he leans back.

“I think you guys are really a lot alike.” She admits gently. “But he hasn’t had to do the things that we’ve done and I don’t ever want him to have to.” She absently runs a finger over the gem on her headband. “I just want to protect him.”  
“I understand,” His throat squeezes slightly as he thinks about Ford. “We do what we have to to protect our siblings.” Mabel smiles at him, a little warmer than before, and nods.

“Thanks for talking with me Grampa Lee.” She stands up. “I’m going to see if I can throw together something for dinner.”

“Do you want a hand?”

“Nah, but thanks. Just keep working on that biz, we can’t rest for long with only two weeks until the apocalypse.” Mabel leaves the room and Stanley sighs as he looks at the pale liquid swirling around in his cup. He wishes he could have been around to know what his granddaughter was like before Gravity Falls.

* * *

Wendy and Soos are silent as Soos brings in an extra cot into the room and they push the two beds together. They lay in silence for twenty minutes before either of them feel the need to say anything.

“I kinda didn’t see this coming.” Wendy admits to the ceiling.

“I know, dudette. I just kinda always thought that little dude and Bill would work something out, and they would just live happily ever after.” They lace their fingers together just for the comfort of another person’s skin. “It’s scary that it didn’t happen that way.” Wendy squeezes his hand a little. “I don’t think I’ve been this scared since Giffany. It’s worse than a monster-of-the-week, thing though. Because this isn’t just some one off. We aren’t going back to the Shack for movies and pizza or illegal fireworks. This is Bill we’re dealing with.”

“Ancient, scheming, former-friend, Bill.” The redhead agrees quietly. “The dude who’s saved all of our asses and now he wants to see them fry.”

“I know, right? It’s so bad right now.” He says back, not taking his eyes from the ceiling. “Not as bad as working for your dad though, right?” Wendy snorts a laugh, letting him break the tension.

“I’m just managing the finances at this point. It was easy to do while I was getting trained.”

“Not gonna lie, that surprised me a bit.” He says honestly. “I didn’t know that you wanted anything to do with medical junk.”

“I didn’t. I kinda still don’t, Soos.” He turns to look at her now but she keeps staring at the ceiling.

“Then why’d you get certified?”

“Because I was scared that something was going to happen to one of us. Sure the insta-healing was nice from Bill but what if he wasn’t around? What if one of us got hurt and we had to watch them die because we only knew basic first-aid skills? I would lay awake at night thinking about that and one day I just decided that I couldn’t do that anymore. So I got my certification.” She turns and gives him a dismal smile.

“Well it sure came in handy today.” He tries to lighten the mood again but the smile melts off her face and she sits up. Wendy pulls her knees to her chest and rests her chin there, one arm wrapped around her legs and the other hand still holding Soos’s.

“I hate that I had to do that.” She mutters against her jeans. “I hate that Dipper asked me to hurt them.”

“He kinda had no choice dude.” Soos sits up as well.

“I know, and that’s why I’m not really angry about it. I was the best choice for making a clean and careful incision and making sure that no one got seriously hurt.”

“But that doesn’t make it better?”

“That doesn’t make it better.” She agrees. “Do you remember what they were like when they first got here?” She huffs a small laugh. “Dipper was this goofy little kid with a huge crush on me and those two goobers would just go skipping into disasters. They were always so happy.”

“I remember.” Soos’s voice is filled with a sadness that rivals her own.

“I just can’t believe how big and strong they’ve gotten,” Wendy hesitates, before speaking the thought that’s been haunting her for three years aloud, “Or how scary.” The repairman frowns at the thin blanket they’re sitting on. “I know you’ve noticed it too. They’ve gotten scary from living here.”

“They’re still Dipper and Mabel.”

“I know that, geez, big guy,” She punches his shoulder softly. “And I love them, but they are different, darker.”

“You’re right…” They sit in quiet for a moment. “It’s probably a good thing they moved here. Even with everything that’s happening. I don’t know if they could live anywhere else at this point.”

“You’re probably right.” Wendy uncurls from around herself and sighs. “What about us? You think we could get out? Let’s run away together Soos, after all this mess is sorted, we’ll just pick up and leave.” They both share a laugh at the utter absurdness of the suggestion. “Nah, I couldn’t ever leave those dorks.”

“Me neither, even if things are scary. I’d rather be here.”

“Yeah.” They give each other’s hand a tight squeeze.

* * *

“Knock knock.” Dipper looks at the door with some surprise before sitting up.

“Come in.” Candy opens the door and adjusts her glasses before smiling at him. “What’s up?”

“I just thought that you might need some company.” Her accent has become slightly less noticeable in the past several years but still remains prominent enough to touch each word.

“Thats nice of you, really, but I think I’d rather be on my own for a little while Candy.” He gives her a thin smile.

“If that’s how you feel.” The petite girl shrugs. “I just know that when I have a break up it is easier to be with someone than without. Even if all I want is to be alone.” She hesitates on the threshold. “Are you sure you want me to leave? We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want.”

“We’re stuck in an underground bunker trying to stop the apocalypse and earlier today you were drawing on walls with my blood, what else is there to talk about?” Candy smiles at him and moves to sit next to him on the cot.

“In zoology we are dissecting rats and looking at their muscles. I named mine Mr. Fuzzles.” Dipper gives a strangled little laugh. “He is the best rat that I could have asked for, very loose connective tissue between the skin and muscles. It has taken me far less time than my classmates to scrape him clean.”

“Thanks Candy.” The boy says softly and she just ignores him.

“I am very excited to be done with the dissecting though, I want to hold a Mr. Fuzzles memorial service, you are invited after finals.”

“I’ll be there.”

* * *

Not long after his confrontation with Mabel, Ford and Fids come into the common area. He can’t help the smile that forms on his face at seeing his brother and their closest friend. Stanley thinks it’s going to take a long time for him to get over the joy of just seeing them again.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Hate to grill you Lee,” Ford says as he sinks into the chair his grandniece recently evacuated. “But we gotta know where you went after you went into that portal.” His shoulders stiffen and he frowns. He doesn’t want to talk about that.

“An alternate dimension.”

“Yeah, we already knew that, you gotta be more specific chump.”

“Maybe we should talk about this later…” Fiddleford says in that old nervous way of his.

“No, let’s do this now.” Lee says with a sigh and looks at the empty cup of tea with a frown. “I went to an alternate dimension where the whole of reality was falling apart. The planet was dying and there were tiny outcrops of civilization trying to survive on the only resources left. It was a world of bandits and scum all ripping each other apart for a drop of water.” He doesn’t want to tell them more. He doesn’t want to see the way his brother will look at him if he tells them that he’d had to kill more than his fair share of others in order to survive. “It was a godforsaken apocalyptic wasteland.” Stanley looks up from the bottom of the cup and sees Ford’s expression before he can hide it. Guilt bubbles in his chest. He hadn’t taken into account how Ford would take the news of what kind of world he was sent to.

“You lived through that nightmare?” McGucket sounds a strange combination of sorrowful and impressed. “How did you get to the portal?” The second question throws Lee off for a moment.

“What?”

“Well I don’t think you’d of’ stayed in one place for forty years, so how’d you find the portal when it opened up?”

“That was actually easy.” He admits glad to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Everything was mostly just flat rockland and when the portal started to flare up the light could be seen across half of the planet. I just happened to be about a day’s walk out so I just followed the glow.”  He drums his fingers against the table and the three sit in an awkward silence.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t bring you back sooner.” Ford finally says, clenching his teeth and fists, as he stares at the table.

“Seriously, Ford? I didn’t expect to ever get brought back, and you figured it all out. I couldn’t be more grateful for that.” He replies with feeling. “Jeez you’re such a moron.”  
“That’s what I keep tell’n him.” Lee laughs and stands up to lean over the table, wrapping his arms around both of the other’s shoulders and giving them a tight squeeze.

“It’s good to be back.” He chuckles. “The Mystery Trio reunited.”

“We’re still not calling ourselves that poindexter.” Ford grumbles.

“Yes we are.”

* * *

Pacifica drops her bag into her and Mabel’s room before heading to find said girl. It takes longer than she’s ever going to admit because she gets lost along the way. This is the first time she’s been down in the infamous Bunker and at spotting the first lab she ends up taking over an hour to just wander around and look through the rooms. She finds two labs, a small library with mostly empty bookshelves, the supply room, the generators, and eventually a room filled with monitoring equipment. The blonde woman glances at the various screens, all displaying places within the Bunker and the two doors outside. She spots the geezers talking in the common area and Mabel in the kitchen, but doesn’t catch sight of anyone else. They must all be in their rooms. But having spotted her partner she exits the room and wanders in the general direction of the kitchen.

Mabel’s standing at the sink struggling with the can opener. She makes a soft grunting noise as she tries to get the large can of soup open. If anything she should he able to open a can of chicken noodle soup! This is so stupid. She gives a short frustrated cry before the can glows pink and is ripped in half, the liquid inside caught within a bubble and dumped unceremoniously into the pot at the small stove. Mabel glares at the two pieces of the can and they crumple together and compress into a small ball of jagged metal.

“Hey.” Pacifica greets from her place in the doorway.

“Hey.” She looks over at her partner. “I don’t want to be happy Mabel right now.” Her gaze is dark.

“And I don’t want one version of Mabel, I want all of you, good and bad.” Pacifica walks up to the taller girl and takes her hands. “But don’t let your anger get the better of you. You always try to hide this,” the blood on her hands, the blood on her clothes, the blood on her girmincing teeth, “from your brother and if you do that now you’re going to have to sacrifice communication. I don’t think you can afford that right now, loser.” She touches their foreheads together and Mabel sighs and relaxes against her.

“I know you’re right but I want to make him pay.” She murmurs.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I think the best way to ruin a demon’s day is to ruin his plans. And we can all do that together. You don’t have to do this alone this time.” She presses her lips against the other’s briefly and gets a smile out of Mabel.

“You’re the best person in the world.”

“Glad that you’ve finally noticed, loser.” Pacifica presses another soft kiss to Mabel’s lips. “Don’t go darkside just yet. We need you here.”

“I won’t. I’ll be right here, I promise.” Mabel squeezes her hands tightly and Pacifica’s not sure if she’s telling the truth or not.

* * *

Eventually everyone sits down to eat and silence dominates the room. Everyone is trying to avoid upsetting Dipper with mentions of Bill but the college student doesn’t seem to be doing as poorly as he was earlier. His eyes are no longer red and it looks like he’s run a comb through his hair at some point. He sits with Mabel at one side and Candy at the other and shares a small smile with the Asian girl as the meal winds to a close. Soos picks up the bowls and takes them into the kitchen area, offering to do the dishes and Candy and Grenda follow him to lend a hand.

“How are your hands?” Wendy asks as the remaining people sit at the table.

“Sore, but not bleeding.” Mabel replies.

“Same.” Stan grunts.

“Thanks for restitching me earlier, by the way,” Dipper adds, “I’m not sure if I said that.”

“You’re welcome, just don’t do it again, okay Dipper?”

“I’ll do my best not to.” He gives her a smile and the entire room seems to take a breath. “So we’ve got thirteen days before Bill ends the world, we should probably start to do something about that.” The relief in the room is sucked out and killed by his words.

“You’re right,” Lee pipes up. “I think someone needs to go to the library and pull up all of the old records that I’d been looking at before my memories were taken. Whatever was there was enough to spark something that Bill felt he _had_ to take from me.”

 “Good idea, but no go,” Wendy speaks up. “The town library burned down eighteen years ago, it was rebuilt but nothing’s left of the original except for what was transferred over from City Hall, and you didn’t look at those documents.”

“Well that’s probably as good a place as any to start.” Dipper says while running his uninjured hand through his hair.

“Soos and I will head over in the morning and get copies of everything we can get our hands on.”

“Sounds good.”

“Remember that secret room in my house that Mabel was talking about earlier? There were tons of old parchments in there too. We should go back and take what we can.”

“Yeah, there might be something useful in there.” Stan nods.

“I found a couple of encrypted files that I don’t remember making.” Stanley adds. “I’m going to try to get them open and decoded but it might take some time. We need to divide our efforts if we want to find out anything before it’s too late.”

“Agreed.” Dipper says. “Candy and Grenda can go with Pacifica tomorrow,” he looks over at Mabel, expecting her to protest. “You and I are going to work on making this place invisible.”

“Cool.”

“And you’re going to be okay to do all of this kid?” Grunkle Stan asks Dipper.

“Doing what Stan?” His voice is sharp.

“We’re fighting the thing you’ve been dating for three years, are you going to be, I don’t know, stable enough for that?” Mabel’s amulet starts to glow and Dipper’s expression turns black and the entire room holds its collective breath.

“Grunkle Stan,” Mabel cuts off her brother before he can speak. “I love you a lot but where the fuck do you get the gall to ask something like that?” Her eyes begin to glow as brightly as the amulet in her hair as she stands and places her palms against the table. “ He just had his heart ripped to pieces but he’s still sitting here trying to make sure that no one else gets hurt and you ask him _that_?!” She sneers at the man and Pacifica wonders if she’s going to have to actually physically restrain the other girl. “Don’t be that dumb again Grunkle Stan or next time I’ll eviscerate you.” Pacifica’s about to stand when Dipper jumps out of his seat and shoves Mabel once hard in the shoulder, surprising his sister.

“Okay everyone get the fuck over yourselves. Yes,” He turns and snaps at Stan. “I dated him, was totally in love with, and probably still am. That doesn’t make me stupid. Seriously I thought you thought more of me than some love-sick teenager. And you,” he turns his attention to his sister. “I love you and I appreciate that you want to protect me but _Tone. It. Down._ This whole in-fighting thing isn’t going to help us in the slightest. This isn’t a sitcom or a B-movie. We don’t need to argue with each other to create tension, the world’s about to end, I think that’s tension enough.”  He takes a deep breath. "We need to stop Bill, we’re all on the same page there. So we stop Bill. Everything else comes second.” Dipper looks around the room and his family members look properly chastised. Pacifica makes eye contact with him and gives a firm nod of approval. That makes his chest feel a little lighter.

“You’re right bro bro, sorry Grunkle Stan.”

“I’m sorry too.” Stanford says while rubbing the back of his neck. “I crossed the line.”

“Alright then. Let’s stop the apocalypse Team Mystery!” Mabel says with a shadow of the enthusiasm she usually has.

“Go team.” Dipper parrots back. The room goes quiet again, hopelessness weighing down the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WENDY AND SOOS ARE BBFS FOREVER NO ONE CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE!


	9. summoning cIrcle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One week later and they're not any closer to answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay let me say the amount of support I've gotten for this story completely astounds me and I am so thankful for everyone who's left kudos, subscribed, or reviewed you all really make me feel like the work I'm putting into this series is worth it. On that note the lovely beautiful Nhiwi did a lovely beautiful fanart of the violet wand scene from Catching Stars and you can gaze upon it with your face orbs here http://trashy-cans.tumblr.com/post/116630468724/ it's awesome!

Dipper wakes up with parchments pressed against his face seven days later. He blinks a few times before realizing what woke him up. A too large hand is resting on his shoulder and gently shaking him.

“I’m up.” He grumbles with a sleep-thickened voice. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah, you fell asleep researching, _again_ , kid.” Stanley says a mug of crappy instant coffee in his hand.

“Sorry.” He sits up and rubs his hand over his face and flinches when he makes the mistake of using his injured one. “What time is it?”

“A little past three in the morning, and don’t apologize, just do me a favor and go get some real shut eye.” Dipper shakes his head and shuffles through the papers.

“I need to keep working.”

“Trust me, Dipper, if you keep working with your tank on empty you’re going to miss something and be useless. You’ll have better luck after at least a couple of hours of real sleep.”

“We only have six days left, how am I supposed to just go to sleep when we’re no closer to figuring this out than we were a week ago?” Frustration fills his tone.

“We’ll find something, kid.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Nope.” Stanley takes a casual sip from his mug. The older man is always so nonchalant. He’s only ever seen Mabel and Bill ruffle his feathers and he wishes he could be as calm in the face of pending disaster. “You gonna go to sleep now?”

“Yeah, alright, fine.” He grumbles feeling a lot like he did when his parents would catch him reading under the covers when he was young.

“Good, mind your elders.” He actually snorts at that as he exits the library. His neck and shoulders ache from leaning over that table all day and he sighs. Even just lying down in a crappy military cot will be better than that for a couple of hours.

* * *

Dipper is pulled from sleep yet again when someone knocks on his door later. He doesn’t know how much time has passed but his eyes have crusted with sleepy sand and his limbs are heavy with a warmth that only comes from a dead sleep.

“Come in.” He rubs at his eyes and sits up, leaning his back against the wall. The concrete chills his bare skin and he realizes his shirtlessness just as the door opens. Wendy comes in and raises an eyebrow.

“Did you just wake up?”

“Yeah, what time is it?”

“About one thirty dude.” That startles him.

“I didn’t mean to sleep that long.” He admits feeling guilt twist his stomach. He should have been up working hours ago.

“I’m glad that you did, I thought I was going to have to strap you to the bed to keep you from passing out.” Wendy walks over to him, small first-aid kit in hand, and pokes at the leather straps wrapped around the bed frame. “Though looks like you’re prepared for that?” Dipper’s lips thin into a tight line.

“I had to be strapped down or I could have hurt myself. I just haven’t been in here long enough to take them off.” He mutters and the smile melts off Wendy’s face.

“Oh…. Sorry I didn’t mean,”

“It’s okay, I’m fine, please don’t start treating me like glass.” He gives her a weary grin. “So what’s with the box? Did I manage to hurt myself in my sleep?”

“I don’t know about that, but I just wanted to check on your cuts.”

“Knock yourself out.” Wendy sits beside him on the bed and removes the bandages from his hand first and checks on the stitches there. The black thread is stark against the thin red line of the wound. He thinks that it looks pretty good considering all the work he’s been doing with his hands lately.

“I think I should be able to take the stitches out in a week or so.” Wendy says with a little nod to herself. “If we’re all still alive, that is.”

“I’ll look forward to that then.”

“Now let me see your other arm.” She inspects the scabbed over cuts on his arm gently. “Does it itch?”

“Yeah, why? I thought itching was a good thing.”

“It is, that means it’s healing. But this is going to scar too.”

“Good.” Wendy traces her finger around the summoning circle, stopping only on the unfamiliar symbols.

“I’ve never really looked at this before.” She says when she feels Dipper shift uncomfortably. “You guys always mentioned summoning him in passing but I never was around to see it.” She traces the circle again her finger stopping on the image of the pine tree. “You,” She keeps moving over the symbols, “Soos, Stan, Mabel, Stanley,...Robbie?” Her finger hesitates over the heart. “Why’s Robbie’s heart on here?”

“I have no idea.” Dipper admits, and it’s something that has always frustrated him. “We know that the symbols correspond with people because Bill would always call us by nicknames based on them. The llama is supposed to be Pacifica but Bill dropped the nickname about a year ago. The star I think is supposed to represent Gideon, which would make sense since he summoned Bill and set this whole thing in motion.” Wendy’s fingers are calloused from her occasional lumberjack outings as they trace over his skin. “Stanley and I are a little confused about the glasses and the hand, because Bill always called him ‘Glasses’,”

“But there aren’t a lot of people with six fingers.” Dipper nods.

“And we have absolutely no idea who the bag of ice is supposed to represent.” Wendy puts a bandage over the small x to keep Dipper from accidentally scratching it and reopening the wound. She chuckles a little to herself.

“You remember the haunted convenience store? That was one of our first adventures together.”

“Yeah, I remember embarrassing myself by doing the Lamby dance and how cool you were to not say anything to the others.”

“A secret I will take to my grave.” She does a scout’s sign. “I remember you were so freaked out when you noticed, you spilled an entire bag of ice on the floor.”

“Yeah-” Dipper goes very still. “Wendy, it’s you. The ice bag is supposed to be you.”

“What? No way, I wasn’t even the one who spilled that, it was you.”

“But I was there, everything I did that night was to impress you, I got that ice because I thought if your friends thought I was cool so would you.” He stands up and digs around in his backpack for a clean shirt. “And that’s not the only time that I was trying to give you ice. Remember the fair back that first summer? I accidentally beamed you with a baseball and when I rushed off to get ice Robbie swooped in and asked you out. I spilled another bag of ice when I found out.”

“Okay, but Dipper, Bill’s never called me anything but ‘Cashier girl’ or ‘Red’.”

“He doesn’t call Pacifica ‘Llama’ anymore. Maybe he doesn’t always call people by their symbols. I’ve never heard him call Stan by anything other than his name but that is definitely the same mark on the summoning circle as Stan’s favorite fez. Come on,” Wendy stands and follows as Dipper rushes from the room.

* * *

There’ already a handful of their friends sitting around in the library, the center of their research, looking varying degrees of frustrated, exhausted, and bored. Stanley is poking at the keyboard with one finger as he stares at the laptop, eyes dull, with a mug in his other hand. Stan is sitting with Pacifica and Mabel going through some of the documents from Pacifica’s house while Soos sits in the corner of the room reading some of the pieces he and Wendy had gotten from City Hall.

“Excuse me.” Dipper barely thinks to say anything before he’s taking the pile of papers from Stan, Mabel and Pacifica and putting them on the table he’d been working at earlier that morning.

“Dipper I was reading that.” Mabel whines. He doesn’t respond as he starts rummaging through the documents.

“Stanley, how many people did you say were in Bill’s cult?”

“Five, why?”

“You on to something kid?” Stanford asks and soon all of the people in the room are gathering around to see what progress is being made.

“Maybe. Look here.” He points to the original town charter. “Pacifica’s family ‘founding’ the town.” He hears the girl make a quite indignant noise at his tone. “Sorry. Okay but look, Llama.” Dipper moves down to some of the signatures at the bottom of the page. “Gleeful, star. Valentino, heart. Corduroy, ice. Ramirez, question mark. One of the names on this was the original founder, and then to have four more names on the list that correspond with the symbols on the summoning circle? That can’t be coincidence.”

“How do you know the ice relates to Wendy?” Mabel asks and Dipper’s so distracted that he doesn’t notice Wendy shrinking back and Soos moving to stand next to her.

“I don’t think it does, at least not directly.” He admits. “But maybe to someone else in her family. Her ancestors might have been part of this cult.”

“But why are all the symbols rooted in things that are going on _now_?” Stan asks taking a look at the charter for himself.

“Bill’s omniscience isn’t perfect. A lot of the times he just gets glimpses into the future that don’t make complete sense until they’re occurring. Maybe he saw how important we were going to be and the symbols correspond with that knowledge but they didn’t really mean anything until this point right now.”

“Great, we know all the symbols are about us and our families.” Pacifica states. “But what good does that actually do us? We have no idea why our families were in a demonic cult or what they wanted from Bill. This doesn’t actually move us forward.” Dipper’s shoulders slump under her cutting but accurate remarks.

“Brat,” Mabel says with a frown.

“No, she’s right. This doesn’t do anything for us right now.” Her brother sighs. “It’s just another mystery we need to solve.”

“But it’s still a step in the right direction.” Staley says patting Dipper on the shoulder. “Now we know what histories, specifically, to look at. Maybe we’ll see signs of a deal somewhere in all of this.”

“Okay. Then we start looking.” Mabel says digging through some of the excessive papers lying around. Stanley moves to pick up a separate stack. “Hey no!” She wacks his hand with the papers in hers. “You’re still on laptop duty Gramps.” Stanley looks distinctly dejected and slumps back over to his workspace. “Good job Dipper.” She gives his hand a squeeze.

“Thanks.” It’s not much, but it’s a start.

* * *

Stanley tries another password. The laptop beeps at him angrily and he has to bypass the hard drive wipe for probably the fifteenth time. For a moment he considers just banging his head against the keyboard. That would probably more effective than anything else he’s done.

“Do you want some more coffee to really kick that heart attack into gear?” Ford asks as he comes to sit beside him.

“Ha ha, my heart’s gotta be in better shape than your’s Ford.” He smirks that infuriating little smirk that he knows makes his brother violent. “My everything’s gotta be in better shape than you these days.”

“Your jaw won’t be in any shape if I clock you one.” Lee snickers and Ford growls. “Have you figured out how to open those files yet?” The younger’s amusement immediately vanishes.

“No.”  
“Hmm. Well you’ll get it eventually.” Lee snorts. “Maybe you need to follow your own advice and get some sleep.”

“I can go for a lot longer than any of you without sleep, and we need to use that to our advantage. Especially,” He roughly jabs at the keys on the laptop. “If I can’t,” he he clicks even more aggressively, “get this to work!”

“Calm down, Lee.”

“You try it.” He shoves the computer at the other man.

“What?”

“It’s an eight letter password, if the computer tries to self-destruct just hit control-shift-s-t-alt-o-p-enter.”

“Wait, what, Lee?” But Stanley’s already standing up and moving over to Dipper and Mabel’s work area. He’d much rather be buried neck deep in books than code. “I don’t know anything about your junk!”

“Maybe it just needs fresh eyes. Just try something.”

“But--”

“I’m done with that thing.”

“Lee you’re being childish.”

“Done with it.” Dipper and Mabel look at him with open amusement before Dipper kicks out a chair for Stanley to sit in.

“Welcome aboard the papercut train, we have endless disappointment, take a stack.” Mabel says blandly before handing over a pile of papers.

“Thanks.”

* * *

McGucket, Dipper, Mabel, Stanley, Stan, and Wendy work on for several more hours in relative silence, only talking when passing papers or when needing a fresh pair of eyes on their research. Eventually Pacifica wanders in and plops down to help, scooches her chair close to Mabel’s, and joins in the pursuit of frustration.

“Guys!” The entire group startles when Grenda runs in, cheeks flushed with a wide grin on her face, and stops in the doorway.

“What is it?” Stan immediately rises to his feet.

“Is Bill here?” Dipper asks reaching for his backpack for the book on wards.

“No just come on! This is so exciting!” Those within the library give each other looks varying from concerned to weary but they all rise from their seats and follow the eager woman out of the room. She leads them down the halls and towards the door and there’s something itching across the back of Dipper’s neck.

“Where are Candy and Soos?”

“They’re out here.”

“Out? Did you guys leave the bunker? Bill can see you out there.” Panic creeps into his tone and he slows down.

“Come on Dipper,” Grenda whines which is a strange sound to hear from someone with so deep a voice. “Just let the surprise be a surprise and don’t get all paranoid.” He bristles at that. Considering the circumstances he thinks that his paranoia is perfectly justifiable. Mabel elbows him gently in the side so he turns to look at her and she mimes taking a deep breath before her eyes flash pink as a reassurance. Dipper takes a breath and allows Grenda to lead them out of the Bunker.

“Oh my god.” Mabel breathes as they step into the bright light and cold of the forest. Dipper shivers in the bitter chill as he looks around with wide eyes. A blanket of white has wrapped itself around the forest. His tennis shoe clad feet are standing in near two inches of the fluffy white. The woods are quiet and his breath puffs out in tiny white bursts that blend into the background of snow. Thick flakes are still falling all around them and catching in their lashes and hair.

“SNEAK ATTACK!” Candy and Soos exclaim as they jump out from behind a bush and Dipper has a facefull of snow before he knows what’s happening. They manage to hit Mabel and Stan as well, causing his sister to shriek and his Grunkle to grumble.

“Oh you are so going down!” Mabel bends over and scoops up a handful of snow and begins packing it into a ball.

“You kids should go put on something warmer if you’re going to have a snowball fight.” Lee warns. “Trust me, frostbite is not fun.”

“Yeah, no hypothermia either please.” Wendy adds. “Snowball fight postponed until proper attire has been put on!” Wendy announces. “Mabel put down the snowball!” Mabel pauses mid-throw, causing her to fall off balance and go tumbling to the forest floor.

“You okay, loser?” Pacifica asks as she walks over, arms wrapped around her torso to get a look at her partner. Mabel is staring up at the sky as the snowflakes drift around her. Her arms are spread to the sides as if she’d stopped mid snow angel. Her coffee and cream brown eyes turn towards her, snow caught in her long lashes and the flush of cold on her cheeks and nose.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Will you bring me my coat? I just wanna lay here for a while.” Pacifica watches a bead of moisture slip down into Mabel’s temple and is unsure if it’s from the snow melting on her skin or a tear leaking from her eye.

“Okay.”

The rest of the group heads back inside, the Mystery Trio going back to continue working and the rest of kids heading to get their coats. When they emerge five minutes later Candy and Soos have constructed the first half of a snowman and Mabel is still lying in the snow. Pacifica drops her coat, handmade scarf, and gloves on top of the younger girl before lying in the snow bedside her. After a few minutes Mabel leans over Pacifica, fully dressed in her winter gear, and leans down to give her a gentle peck. When she pulls back Pacifica cups her face between her mittened palms and pulls her down for a more lingering kiss. Mabel’s fingers curl into her coat and Pacifica sits up a bit so she can wrap her arms around the other’s neck and keep her close. Mabel’s nose is cold when it brushes against her cheek. They break apart after a moment and rest their foreheads together, Mabel’s eyes are still closed and Pacifica can feel her trembling. She doesn’t think the cold has anything to do with it. A snowball whacks into Mabel’s shoulder startling both girls as they turn wide eyed to find whoever threw it.

“Makeout later!” Grenda shouts. “It’s snowball time!”

“Wow this is something I never thought I would hear you say.” Dipper says honestly from where he’s helping Soos and Candy with their snowman.

“You’re gonna pay for that my friend!” Mabel calls back as she pulls herself up and Pacifica rises after her.

* * *

Stanford sits staring at his brother’s laptop. How the hell is he supposed to know whatever password the chump used? He’d never even poked around on the thing before Lee went missing. He makes an annoyed sound deep in the back of his throat. What a jerk. There’s no way he’s going to get anything done staring at this stupid screen. The cursor blinks up at him expectantly. He doesn’t have any idea what the password is. It blinks at him. Stupid genius little brother.

“Fucking,” He types. “p-o-i-n-d-x-t-r.” Stan hits enter for the hell of it. The computer beeps at him and he frowns, ready to stop the self destruct sequence. But instead of the glaring red countdown on a black screen green numbers and letters start scrolling across the top. “What?” He sits up a little straighter as the machine works. Another moment passes with him holding his breath. ‘Password Accepted: Files Decrypted’ beams in bright green lettering on the screen. “Holy shit. Lee! Lee, get in here you motherfucker! Get the kids! Oh my god you absolute chump, look!” He shouts rising to his feet. “You absolute fucking chump.” He says more to himself this time as he stares at the ancient computer.

* * *

Dipper has to admit that the snow is a pleasant surprise as he looks around at his friends. Wendy’s hair is wet with the melting snow, sticking to her cheeks and back in long dark strands as Soos chases her with a giant snowball, both of them laughing and yelling. Mabel and Pacifica are facing off against Candy and Grenda in an epic snowball fight. He’s pretty sure that at least one of them is going to get a black eye from how hard they’re chucking the snow at each other. Dipper grabs up a pair of sticks and goes over to jab them into the snowman’s middle. The arms slump a little giving the snowman the appearance of shrugging.

“Dipper come fight me!” Mabel throws a snowball in his direction but it misses him widely as she’s hit by one of Candy’s mid-thow.

“Bring it on sister!” He calls back leaning over to scoop up some of the fresh snow.

“Guys!” Lee is standing at the door the next moment, cheeks flushed with excitement and eyes bright. “Ford decrypted the laptop, the files are open.” A collective cheer sounds from the group but the joyful laughter and general lightheartedness of the mood is quickly sucked away.

“Let’s we what we’ve got.” Wendy says as she heads back towards the door.

“I’ll make some cocoa and we can all sit down and take a look at what’s going on.” Soos states cheerfully before following Wendy inside.  Mabel and Pacifica staredown Candy and grenda for a long moment.

“Draw?”The Asian girl proposes with her hand out.

“Draw.” Mabel agrees.The girls also move towards the door. Mabel stops and waits for him at the entrance and Dipper might be dragging his feet a little. Things had been so good for a moment. He’d almost forgotten what was happening. “Come on bro bro.” Mabel extends her hand towards him and he sighs and moves towards her intending to take her hand and let her lead him inside. Instead a quiet voice buzzes through his mind and he goes very still.

“There you are. Miss me, Pine Tree?” Dipper’s heart pounds in his chest and he looks at his sister with wide eyes. He feels the world shift and his vision goes back.

“Dipper?!” Mabel cries as she watches her brother go still before falling back into the snow.  She rushes over to him and places her hands against his cheeks. His eyelids are fluttering rapidly, like when he’s in deep sleep, and his expression is peaceful. Panic bubbles in her chest as she stares down at him. “Wendy! Grunkle Stan! Someone! Help, please! Dipper passed out! Help me!” Her magic bursts out in a pulse of fear, sending her cries echoing through the forest. “Dipper?” She says quietly as she hears the other’s racing back down the corridor. She strokes his bangs to the side gently. “Dipper?”


	10. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a sweater to go with Not Home and posted it here: http://satan-copilots-my-tardis.tumblr.com/post/117259517339/ also that's my Tumblr, a few of you have already joined me there feel free to stop by.

Dipper rolls over in bed, eyes squinting open, and stares through the darkness across the room at Mabel. She’s still sleeping soundly in bed and he wonders what woke him up. He looks around their bedroom, expecting to find some kind of disturbance, but he finds none. Their door is shut, the hallway beyond it quiet, and the air in the Shack is still and calm.

“Dip?” Mabel mutters with a sleep-thickened voice. “What’s happening? Is something wrong?” He feels bad for waking her up. She always knows then something is bothering him, even when she’s unconscious.

“Nothing, just woke up.” She squishes her face back into her pillows.

“Well then just go back to sleep.”

“Yeah.”

“Night, Dipper.”

“Night, Mabel.” He rolls onto his back and listens to her breathing mellow out. he still feels uncomfortable at not knowing what woke him but as he listens to her breathing in the quiet of their room his eyes slip shut and he rejoins the realm of sleep.

* * *

“What happened?” Wendy’s voice is urgent but not panicked as she checks Dipper over, knees sinking into the snow beside Mabel’s.

“I don’t know!” The younger girl responds frantically. “He was _fine_! He was up and talking and we were heading inside and then all of the sudden he went really still and fell over!”

“Mabel I need you to calm down and take a deep breath.”

“Wendy, Dipper’s not-”

“Mabel.” Her voice is steely. “Take a breath and calm down. I need you to levitate him to the infirmary.”

“Okay,” she’s not breathing right, but she can levitate someone in her sleep. “I got him.” Dipper’s form rises gracefully from the snow and she makes him hover towards the door. A hand lands on her shoulder and squeezes reassuringly.

“It’s going to be okay, Mabel.” Wendy promises. “We’ll figure this out.”

* * *

“Wake up kids!” Grunkle Stan calls into the room while rapping on the door. Dipper’s eyes crack open and he hears Mabel groan. He sighs and closes his eyes again as he calls back,

“We’re up Grunkle Stan.”

“Hurry up and get dressed. I’m making breakfast.”

“Okay Stan.” Mabel replies her morning-personness kicking in as she sits up. Her eyes are bright and her hair is one large tangle as she swings her legs over the side of her bed and beams at him. “Good morning Dippy.”

“Morning.” He pauses. “Don’t call me that.”

“Did you sleep well after earlier?” He gives her a small smile back.

“Yeah,” Dipper mutters as he pushes himself up into a sitting position. “Really well actually.” Surprisingly well. He can’t remember the last time he’s felt so well-rested.

“Good. I’m going to shower.” She says the last part very quickly and is jumping out of bed, snatching up her towel, and on her way out the door before Dipper can protest. He scoffs softly to himself before rolling out of bed.

Not long later the three Pines are seated around the table eating bowls of cereal in a slightly smoking kitchen. Grunkle Stan glares at them, daring either to say something about burning breakfast, as they eat. Mabel’s just as pleased with her sugar-blasted sprinkle rainbow unicorn flakes with new berry bunches and marshmallow friends as she would have been with powdered sugar covered french toast and Dipper’s fine with his and Stan’s honey-nut cheerios.

“Got classes?” Stan grunts in his usual early morning zombie way. Dipper’s thrown off by the question even though he knows he shouldn’t be. Establishing who’s got what and what the plan is for the day is a normal morning ritual in the Shack. He shouldn’t be grasping for straws now. What day is it? What day was it yesterday?

“Uh…” He pauses before answering. Oh. The answers flood his mind. “No, not on Wednesdays.” Jeez he must be more groggy than he thought.

“Good, gonna need you both here for the pre-Christmas rush.”

“There’s a pre-Christmas rush?” Dipper inquires with a raised eyebrow. Stan shrugs.

“It’s a small town and people are dumb.” He grumbles into his coffee. “All you have to do is put up a ‘sale’ sign and people come running.”

“Ooooh we’re having a sale?” Mabel asks, one part excitement and one part sugar rush. Stan points to her without breaking eye contact with Dipper.

“Case and point.”

“I think you just called me dumb.” Mabel frowns and stares at Stan. Their Grunkle just takes a slow sip of his coffee. Dipper snorts into his orange juice as Mabel’s cheeks puff up with frustration. Yeah, it’s gonna be a good morning.

* * *

Stan’s right about the members of the Gravity Falls community. As soon as Dipper puts up the Christmas blowout the Shack is full of people scrambling to buy useless knick knacks to show their love for one another. Perhaps unsurprisingly the only person who doesn’t pass through the store is Tyler, who Dipper suspects does his shopping in June to avoid the clusterfuck that the sale causes. Dipper’s more surprised by the fact that Stan’s ‘sale’ is ten percent extra on all store items with ‘free’ gift wrapping for the additional charge of three fifty and that people are still frantic to buy. There must be something besides the continual mental wipes that makes them so ridiculously stupid. He makes a mental note  to look into it as he passes one of Mabel’s elegantly wrapped presents over the counter to Lazy Susan. The day progresses like this and by the time Stan flips the sign on the door to closed Mabel is slumped against the wrapping station with ribbons in her hair, tape on her sweater, and bows stuck to various limbs. Dipper is leaning over the counter exhausted while Soos stands in the corner of the mostly-empty gift shop and looking at the mess with mild horror.

“Good job today guys.” Stan says as he looks through the cash register.  “We made a killing.”

“Well that’s good, ‘cause I’m dying.” Mabel groans as she moves over to Dipper and slumps against him. “I think my hands are more papercuts than not.”

“Ouch.” Dipper starts pulling bows and ribbons off of his sister.

“This is cause for celebration.” Stan says cheerfully, completely ignoring the twins.

“Or sleep.” Mabel responds.

“We could do something festive.” Stan adds and Dipper feels Mabel perk up.

“Like watch Christmas movies and make gingerbread?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Can I invite Pacifica over?”

“Sure.”

“Woot!” Mabel dashes towards the door. “I’m gonna get all of your Christmas sweaters!”

“Aw come on Mabel,” Dipper groans.

“Sweaters!” She calls back forcefully. The younger twin sighs. They’re not going to get out of wearing the sweaters.

“Call up the gang.” Stan says and Dipper turns to give the old man his attention. “We’ll do an impromptu Christmas party.”

“Really?”

“Why not? They’re family anyway.” A warmth floods Dipper’s chest and he smiles.

“So does that mean?” Stan’s nose scrunches with distaste as he counts his profits.

“Yeah, fine. Invite your freaky boyfriend.”

“Thanks Grunkle Stan.”

“Just call him before I change my mind.”

* * *

Wendy gets Dipper set up on a cot in the infirmary quickly and goes about checking his vitals. She’s almost sad to report that everything appears normal, as if Dipper’s simply asleep, but no matter what they try they are unable to wake him. Eventually everyone leaves the room, going to search for answers in the journals that could explain his sudden condition. Everyone except Mabel.

She sits at Dipper’s side and holds his hand tightly within her own. He breathes slowly and evenly. But she’s spent her life sleeping beside him. She knows how he sounds in his sleep and this isn’t it. These breaths are too slow. Too perfect. She could set a metronome to his breathing now. It’s wrong. Something has to be very very wrong with him. She clutches his hand a little tighter to keep her own from shaking. This is so much worse than any of the other crises that they’ve faced in the past seven years. At least she can kill a monster. She can stop a curse, fight a Gremloblin, destroy any obstacle keeping them apart. But she’s useless here. She can’t save him when he’s like this. Her frustration and fear bubble just below the surface of her skin until the glass to the observation room window shatters. She doesn’t try to rein herself in. She needs to feel this distress bright in her mind because she doesn’t know what Dipper is feeling right now. He could be in so much pain. He could be with Bill.

“Mabel?” Grenda’s voice is too sudden and her magic spikes out, sending loose objects smashing against the wall in a tidal wave of intent. The larger girl flinches and she takes a step back. “Whoa.”

“Grenda? Sorry, you startled me.” The other girl admits.

“Sorry. Has there been any change?”

“No.”  Her voice is colder than she intends.

“I’m sorry.” Mabel just hums in response. That doesn’t change the situation.

“Have you guys found anything?”

“No, but we really need you in there with us.”

“There’s more than enough people to go through everything we have. Twice.” This time she means the harshness in her tone.

“That’s not why we need you in there. You and Dipper are our leaders. We need that right now.” The larger girl crosses her arms over her chest.

“We’re not leaders. If you want someone to tell you what to do ask Stan or Stanley.” She snarls. “Ask McGucket for all I care! They’re the fucking adults!” Grenda’s lips thin into a tight line.

“They’re not the ones that we rely on. Besides you’re not doing any good hanging onto him like that!” Grenda snaps and Mabel rises to her feet, eyes flashing brightly. “Don’t even try to argue with me, Mabel! You know that this isn’t doing any good. You need to go out there and direct our efforts. You may not like it but you’re the only leader we’ve got right now and you’re going to have to own up to that.” She takes a breath before continuing. “I’m not going to tell you to ‘be strong’ or whatever in the face of a crisis because you already know you’re strong, but you’re being dumb right now! Suck it up and go out there and do your job.” Mabel has gone very still as her friend yells at her. A long silence stretches out between the two girls.

“Yeah… okay.” Mabel squeezes Dipper’s hand once more and presses a soft kiss to his knuckles before resting it back on the cot. “Thanks for talking some sense into me.” She says softly and Grenda straightens with pride.

“Mama didn’t raise no fool and Grenda doesn’t befriend no pushovers!” That forces a laugh out of Mabel.

“Yeah.”

* * *

They postpone the party for an hour and a half at Mabel’s insistence that they let her whip up some cookies so they can all decorate them together while watching movies which she sends Stan out to procure. Dipper offers to help but she banishes him out with the insistence that he’s possibly the worst baker she’s ever seen.

“I just dont get it Dipper, you’re so precise with everything else and baking is the one thing that has to be exact in the kitchen and you just shrug and dump four tablespoons of vanilla into the dough! Seriously. You can come in after I’m done and cook something for the party if you want but stay away from my baking.” So with a shrug and a sigh he ends up in the living room. He spends about half an hour grabbing the sparkling gold and red garland leftover from decorating the tree in the corner and draping it festively around the room. But soon Dipper’s just sitting around the living room flipping through his class notes as he waits to be allowed into the kitchen. Maybe he’ll throw together some finger sandwiches or something simple. He sighs and looks down at his trig notes.

“Hey there, Pine Tree!” Dipper yelps as Bill becomes one of the triangles on the page.

“Damn it Bill! You scared the crap out of me.” He scowls, it’s totally a scowl and not a pout. His chest squeezes and he rubs a hand absently over his heart, not knowing where the sensation is coming from.

“And here I thought this was going to be a party, what are you doing studying kid?”

“Well it’s not a party you’re invited to, at least not anymore.”

“Aw come on Pine Tree. I even brought something special for it.”

“Special how?” Dipper raises an eyebrow. “Special ‘its probably going to try and kill you but at least it’ll be fun’? Or special ‘no human ever wanted to see or know that but now you have, don’t you feel privileged’?”

“Neither. Traditional special.”

“Will it kill me?”

“Only if you’re using it wrong.” Dipper sighs.

“Fine.”

“Close your eyes.” Dipper snorts but does it anyway.

“That phrase never leads to anything good with you.”

“Stop talking, Pine Tree.” After a moment Dipper feels Bill press his from against his lips softly. The only way they can kiss. The gentle action is enough to make him open his eyes. Bill moves away and with his usual mouthless grin points above them. Dipper looks upward and spots a healthy sprig of mistletoe hovering in the air above them.

“Traditional.” He gives the demon a small smile before Bill snaps his fingers and the sprig hangs itself in the doorway. “The party’s not starting for a while.”

“Oh no whatever shall I do to keep myself entertained?” Bill rolls his eye before settling down on Dipper’s chest. The human wraps an arm around him and gives a single contented sigh. “Math is dumb.” Bill says in his superior way and Dipper just sighs and presses his lips against the demon’s body again. That tone usually means Bill’s going to start bragging about his omniscience. “You humans won’t be able to solve the mysteries of the universe with equations for another couple hundred thousand years and by that point you won’t be so much ‘humans’ as-”

“Well we’re doing a lot of good with it right now and since I’m not going to survive long enough to use math to understand the mysteries of the universe I’ll stick to using it right now to get better grades. Besides math is used for everything Bill. Medicine,”

“Frail human bodies being useless.”

“Technology,”

“A poorly constructed crutch in seeking true power,”

“Are you going to keep that up?”

“Probably.”

“Just because we’re not all powerful doesn’t mean we’re useless, Bill.”The demon pokes him on the cheek and Dipper bats his hand away.

“Never said that, now did I kid? You humans are capable of really amusing things. I know that. I picked you after all.” The human gives him a strange look.

“Picked us?”

“When demons were choosing domains at the beginning of it all. I picked the world of human dreams to be mine. No one else wanted you squishy meat bags.” Dipper runs his fingers over Bill’s side in a gentle caress. “They sure were dumb. No idea what you humans would be capable of.”

“Aw,” Dipper says with amusement. “Bill you really love humans don’t you?”

“Well I wouldn’t go that far. I love humans about as much as you love coal. People fuel my powers but they’re not individually important to me.” There’s a short pause. “Except for you Pine Tree.” Warmth spreads through Dipper’s chest.

“I love you too, Bill.” The demon gently pats him on the cheek.

“I know you do, Pine Tree.”

“Knock knock?” Mabel says standing in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.

“Mabel you don’t have to knock it’s the living room.”

“I know but you two were just being so cute.” She comes over with a plate full of sugar cookies and Dipper lifts his legs so she can sit beside him before lowering them across her lap. She rests the plate of cookies across his knees. “Look!” She holds up two of the cookies and Dipper laughs. They’re undecorated but clearly in the shape of a pine tree and a triangle. “I made stars, people, question marks, trees, triangles, bells, and candycanes.” She sets the cookies back down. “And I made sugar cookies and gingerbread.”

“That fast?”

“I made the dough for the gingerbread yesterday and there are still things baking but yeah. Cookies don’t really take a long time to make when someone isn’t destroying the recipe.” Bill snickers and Dipper flicks him on the back of his head. It doesn’t even phase the demon. “Want one?”

“I’ll wait until everyone gets here.” As h says this Dipper hears the front door open and Soos call out.

“We’re here, Pines family! Anybody home?”

“Well then.” Dipper picks up a triangle just to watch Bill’s eye widen in mock horror as he eats it. Soos and Wendy wander into the living room and smile at the twins.

“Hey guys.” The red head greets.

“Hey, “ Dipper starts but is cut off with Mabel squealing.

“What’s up hambone?”

“Who hung that?” She points to the mistletoe above Soos and Wendy’s heads.

“Bill.”

“Me.” Mabel pats Bill like she would a person on the shoulder.

“I approve.”

“I thought you might, Shooting Star.”

“Well Soos it is tradition.” Wendy says with a shrug and cups the man’s face in her hands. She leans in to kiss him but at the last moment turns Soos’s head so that she can blow a raspberry against his cheek. They all snicker before Soos grabs the young woman and does the same to her.

“Merry Christmas!” The repairman says with a grin.

“Merry Christmas.” The others parrot back. Dipper sits up and shoves his notebook back into his school pack as Mabel goes to show off her cookies. Bill floats just within arm reach as more guests arrive in the Shack and before they know it the party has begun.

* * *

The party moves seamlessly from people arriving to cookie decorating to watching classic Christmas movies. Everyone sits together in the living room watching the tiny TV screen as messages of hope, and love, and family, play in an endless hallmark loop.

“Who wants more eggnog?” Stan asks halfway through _A Christmas Story_.

“Ew. “

“No thanks Stan.”

“Yuck.”

“No one.” The old man grumbles before heading back into the kitchen and Dipper watches him go with a snicker. He stops laughing when Stan walks past the lobster tank. His reflection isn’t quite right. His chin is wrong and his hair and glasses look...different. Stan moves past the glass too quickly for him to get a better look at the reflection and Dipper blinks. Weird. Maybe he’s getting tired. That explanation makes his stomach uneasy but he turns back to the movie it’s probably just his eyes playing tricks on him.

* * *

Dipper’s not entirely sure how it happens but as the party winds down and people start to leave he ends up alone in the Shack. Their friends split and Mabel goes tp spend the night with Pacifica and Stan decides to head to the bar in town for drinks with Soos and Wendy and soon Dipper’s standing in his and Mabel’s bedroom in an empty and silent Shack. Well almost empty. Bill’s still hanging around but the demon is being strangely silent. Dipper wants to ask if something’s wrong but an uneasiness in his gut makes him refrain. He startles slightly when he feels the demon stroke his fingers along his arm, lingering over the image of himself tattooed on the human’s skin, and heat uncoils through Dipper’s body. Bill usually ignores the mark, only ever touching it when he wants to start something. That’s kind of unusual in itself as the demon doesn’t really feel arousal or sexual gratification like humans do and usually Dipper’s the one to initiate anything but it’s been a weird night.

“Hey…”  Bill doesn’t respond as blue sparks along his hand as he caresses the inked skin. Dipper’s heart speeds as a flush works its way across the back of his neck at the tiny pin pricks of pain the demon’s touch causes. Bill hovers a bit out of reach and Dipper swallows hard before pulling off his sweater, a red piece with a large pine tree sewn to the front with a tiny Bill sitting atop like a star, and tossing it to the side. They haven’t done this much in the Shack. “If you make me blow the lights you’re going to fix them.” He steps back into Bill’s space as the demon snickers.

“We’ll see, Pine Tree.” Dipper’s lips part slightly when Bill presses a thumb against them and strokes over the skin. His tongue darts out to press against the pad of the demon’s finger and the sensation is always strange. There’s no taste to speak of only a pressure against his tongue that tells him there should be. “What if I just blow you?” Dipper snorts a laugh.

“That would be impressive considering you still don’t have a mouth.” He murmurs against the finger and at the smart tone Bill’s entire hand flares with blue flames. Dipper doesn’t break eye contact as he wraps a hand around the demon’s wrist and sucks two of his fingers into his mouth. It’s not an entirely pleasant sensation. While the flames aren’t hot enough to burn him, at least not yet anyway, the untempered magic creates an ache deep in his skin and as the pain sinks down into his tongue and along his throat he feels his pants tighten. He never said he wasn’t a masochist. Bill presses his other hand against the human’s heart and Dipper gasps as the same fire flares its way across his chest. The skin under Bill’s hand begins to redden with burns and a filthy groan is muffled against the fingers in his mouth.

“You’re probably going to want to lay down now, Pine Tree.” Bill says with smug amusement as he retreats.

“You’re such an ass.” But he doesn’t argue the point as he strips the rest of his clothes and kicks them away before laying down on his bed. “Come on.” He’s not needy. Nope. Not in the slightest.

“Just one last thing.” Bill snaps his fingers and Dipper grunts as his arms are yanked up and the leather straps from the Bunker are securing his wrists to the wooden headboard. “Don’t want you hurting yourself. That’s my job.” Dipper levels the demon with a look as he curls his fingers around the wooden rails of the headboard loosely.

“Then get over here and hurt me.” Once upon a time he would have been far too embarrassed to say something like that but at this point he just blushes and stares the demon down as he flares brightly and settles back into a darker shade of gold.

“How can I resist when you ask so nicely?” Bill doesn’t waste any time settling against the human’s chest, pressing a hand back against the reddened skin as the fire flares back up along his arm. Dipper grunts as the fire breaks his skin and blood trickles down. He clenches his teeth together because, oh, that’s agony. This is worse than being flayed by the Shape Shifter, worse than being staked by Gnomes, worse than being ripped out of his own body.

A groan builds in his throat as he tightens his grip on the headboard. His skin feels too full. The flames stretch and burn along his muscles and through his bones. He wonders if when he dies his skeleton will be blackened and the thought sends an unwarranted thrill of arousal through him. Dipper feels Bill’s fingers twitch against his skin and the agony goes white-hot and he can hear himself screaming. The skin on his chest is going to blister and the blood that’s leaked out of the wound begins to boil. His cock hangs hard and heavy between his legs and he’s going to be ripped apart at the seams if Bill doesn’t touch him soon as he continues to feed the flames into his skin. Dipper hears something shatter but he’s too far gone already to bother looking to see what it was. He doesn’t care about anything except the tightness of his own skin.

Too quickly the flames crash back into the center of his chest and Dipper briefly fears that he’ll have a heart attack with how his lungs and heart seize up as they are engulfed in the fire. Then Bill’s wrapping a hand around his arousal all he can do is cry out as the demon sets up a brutal rhythm, the flames under his skin flowing out from his chest and crashing back inwards with each stroke. His ears are ringing and he’s not sure if he’s in pain or if it’s all too good because there’s just too much happening in his body for him to catalog.

“FuckfuckBillpleaseohgodBill-” Dipper doesn’t know when he started babbling and he hears a distinct electrical popping that he registers is not actually a good thing but then Bill twists his wrist just right and all he can do is scream. “Fuckyesdon’tstopgodIloveyoudon’tstopBill-” The wound on his chest begins to blacken along the edges but he doesn’t feel the pain on the surface of his skin anymore. Everything that hurts is inside him and he’s so full he’s going to be torn apart. He’s going to burst into flames. He’s going to die. His vision starts to turn blue along the edges and the agony doubles. It’s too bright and his brain feels like its turning itself inside out and the world might be ending. He closes his eyes.

“Don’t do that, Pine Tree.” He hardly hears the demon speak. “Come on, open them back up. You know better.” Bill’s voice is soft as he speaks. Almost tender. Dipper doesn’t linger over that fact. He keeps his eyes shut to prolong the agony. His body goes taunt as the fire begins to get hotter. It burns too brightly under his skin and his ears are ringing and the world disappears and he wonders if he keeps them shut long enough if everyone would be able to see the demon’s claim on his skin. His eyes feel like they’re melting. “Pine Tree, open your eyes.” Bill’s voice sounds worried now and Dipper knows that he has to listen. His eyes crack open and tears stream down along his temples as the flames burst from his eyes. They rip the warmth from his body in one sharp sudden shock and all he can do is arch off the bed as they tear his orgasm out of him. He might black out.

Dipper’s not sure how long it takes him to come back to himself but eventually he realizes that he’s laying loose limbed and sweaty staring at the ceiling. His knuckles ache from the tight hold he’s had on the headboard so he releases his grip and jiggles the leather straps. He looks down at Bill, still sitting on his chest and looking at him with an unreadable expression.

“Can you take these off?” His throat hurts. Jeez, just how loud was he? Bill doesn’t move. Just keeps staring at him. “What?”

“You closed your eyes.” Dipper breaks eye contact and gives a small shrug.

“I opened them.”

“You hurt yourself.” That’s a surprise. Dipper looks down at himself, spotting the evidence of his orgasm splattered across his stomach and the blackened skin over his heart to which he thinks Bill is referring.

“Whoops.” He gives a sheepish smile and then jiggles his wrists again. “It’s not that bad it doesn’t even hurt. Untie me and I’ll go put something on it.”

“That’s a fourth degree burn, Pine Tree. You can’t feel it because you’ve burned through nerves.” Bill presses his hand against it and Dipper watches as the flesh slowly regenerates and knits back together. “Why did you close your eyes?”

“I just wanted…” He’s not entirely sure what he wanted. It just felt right at the time. Like it was the last time. “To make it last. And I guess I wanted to see it.” He shrugs as much as he can with his arms bound. Bill tilts slightly, a mockery of a human tilting their head inquisitively. “You can see whatever mark the claim makes on me… I just wanted to see it too.” He’s not even sure why. He’s never had a thought like that before and it’s a little frightening when he realizes just how much damage he’d done to himself. Dipper shifts uncomfortably under the demon’s stare. Bill gives a thoughtful hum and takes his hand from the human’s chest. Dipper looks down to see a shiny pink scar above his heart the skin raised in the rough shape of a triangle about the size of a quarter.

“There. That work for you Pine Tree?” Dipper swallows hard, feeling his throat tighten and his gut twist. He's not sure where the sudden flood of sadness came from but he just forces himself to smile as he fights it back.

“It’d work more if I wasn’t still tied up.”

“So needy.” Bill snaps his fingers and the leather straps disappear. Dipper curls an arm around the demon’s body and holds him tight. He should probably go get cleaned up soon.

“You’ll stay the night?”

“So needy.” Bill repeats which Dipper takes as an affirmative.

“I love you.” He’s not expecting the demon to respond.

“I love you too, Pine Tree.” Dipper sucks in a startled breath. His heart flops uneasily in his chest at hearing Bill say that phrase. The demon has always been very persistent in reminding Dipper that he doesn’t feel emotions like humans do, especially not love. Whatever they have isn’t love for the demon. Dipper knows that. It doesn’t make their relationship any less valid. “Cat got your tongue?” Bill snickers but Dipper doesn’t think the demon’s heart, or wherever it is the triangle uses to express amusement, is in it.

“A little.” He admits.

“Well I figure that since I’ve been around you humans for so long I was bound to catch it eventually. You people, spreading your emotions like a virus.” Bill mutters. “Figured it was about time I told you.” A long silence stretches out between them in the dark. He doesn’t know what to say to that and senses that if he says the wrong thing the demon will leave. He stares up at the ceiling.

“I don’t remember the lights being off when we came in.” Dipper finally says.

“That’s because they weren’t.” Bill snickers genuinely this time. “You also broke the lamp.”

“Fuck.” Dipper sighs. “Fix it while I go clean up, please.”

“So needy.”

Dipper steps into the bathroom, turns on the shower and waits for the spray to warm. He looks at the scar in the mirror and runs his sore fingers over it. He pulls his hand away when the scar throbs under his touch. Dipper looks at his palm. A bright red line stands out against his skin from clutching the wooden slats of the headboard. His stomach flips and his chest grows tight as a wave of nausea overcomes him. He clutches the edge of the sink and takes a few deep breaths. What is wrong with him today?

* * *

When Dipper wakes up the next morning Bill has already left and whatever was making his insides tremble the night before is gone. The human gets out of bed with a spring in his step and after a moment shrugs and pops his Ipod into its dock and plays the Top 40’s latest catchy pop tune. No one’s around to make fun of him anyway and if Grunkle Stan is home he’s probably still in bed sleeping off his hangover. He throws on a plain tee-shirt before grabbing a hoodie out of his dresser and throwing that over his shoulders before swapping out his pajama bottoms for a pair of well-worn jeans. The human hums a little to the music as he runs a comb through his hair. Dipper scrolls past a couple of songs as he opens the box sitting on top of his dresser and reaches in to grab his necklace. He feels around for a moment and frowns before he pauses the music and turns his full attention to the box. His fingers finally brush against the smooth cool of a tooth and he catches it in fingers before pulling it out of the box.

A cold sweat breaks out across his skin as his breathing becomes irregular as he stares down at the single tooth on the black leather cord. It glares up at him like an accusation. His his stomach ties itself in knots as he sits on the edge of his bed when his legs become too watery to stand. A single tooth.

“Figured it out?” Dipper swallows hard as he stares at the necklace in his hands.

“Yeah.” He croaks. He wants to be furious, and maybe in a moment or two he will be, but right now he’s distracted by the feeling of his heart cannibalizing itself. “You did a good job. I really believed that this was real.”

“Don’t patronize me, kid. This is the Mindscape. I can do anything in here.”

“And you had to do this? You had to make me think that everything was alright? That nothing had changed?!” He shouts at the tooth. He still can’t look at the demon as his eyes prick with tears.

“I just wanted to give you a good dream while I was working.”

“I would have rather had nightmares!” Dipper snarls, finally looking up at the demon. “And what work? If you’ve been rooting around in my head then you know that we haven’t figured out how to stop you yet! But we’re going to. So help me when I wake up I will find out a way to stop you! I’ll destroy everything you’ve ever worked for you lying bastard!” He thinks the statement would be more intimidating if he wasn’t choking on his heart and tears weren’t streaking down his cheeks. Bill floats a little further away from the human.

“Come on, kid, you were happy a minute ago. Things don’t have to change. Just let me finish what I’m working on and everything will be fine. You and the Mystery Bunch will be celebrating Christmas in no time. Nothing has to change.”

“Seriously Bill, seriously?” He snarls. “You’re still trying to play the join-the-dark-side card? After this? I may be a masochist but this isn’t exactly the kind of hurt that makes me want to roll over and beg. Join you? Are you fucking insane?” He throws the necklace at the demon.

“It wasn’t about hurting you, Pine Tree.” There’s something in Bill’s voice that almost sounds desperate. Dipper’s next words get caught in his throat. He and Bill stare at each other for a long moment and Dipper sinks back down to sitting on the edge of the bed. Bill floats at eye level across from him. “Pine Tree, I-”

“Please, if you really care about me don’t you dare say it.” He cuts off the demon with a raised hand. He can’t hear it. He can’t. They sit in silence again. “I’m going to keep fighting you. I’m going to fight tooth and nail until time runs out or until I know I’ve stopped whatever it is you’re planning.”

“I know you are, Pine Tree.”

“You’re not going to pull any punches when it comes to trying to stop us, I know that.”  They stare at each other. “So, give me something, Bill. Is this going to end with me in tears?”

“...Yes.” Dipper’s chest squeezes.

“Am I going to wake up soon?”

“Soon.” The human takes a breath. “I didn’t plan on you, kid.” Bill says softly.

“Good.” The room is starting to lose color around the edges, furniture turning translucent and ghost-like. Soon there’s only the vaguest outline of the Shack left around them.  Dipper looks at Bill one last time before his vision is filled with a bright light.

* * *

He opens his eyes again and he’s looking at the concrete ceiling of the Bunker. Dipper forces himself up into a seated position and throws the thin blanket off. Someone must have taken off his coat and gloves when they moved him to, he takes a quick glance around the room, the infirmary. He stands from the bed and the chill of the floors eats through his socks. How long had he actually been asleep? The knob twists and he turns towards the door as Mabel comes in. Her hair is frizzy in the way it only gets from running her hands through it too many times and there are dark circles under her eyes which widen when she sees him.

“Dipper!” Although he’s fully expecting the hug he’s still thrown slightly off balance when in one moment she’s across the room and in the next his arms are full of his sister. “Are you alright? What happened? You just passed out! You’ve been asleep for over a day! You should be sitting, why aren’t you sitting?” She forces him back down on the bed.

“Over a day?” The news travels like ice water down his spine. “I’m okay Mabel,” he answers her absently. “Bill knocked me out to dig through my head. He shouldn’t be able to try it again as long as we all stay inside.”

“Are you really okay?” She squeezes his hands and he squeezes hers back.

“Yeah, better than I thought I would be. This was a lot of effort. Bill wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t think we were a threat.” For the first time in over a week something genuinely warm unfurls inside his chest. “We’re going to stop him.” He says with a certainty that resonates in his bones. Even if it ends with him in tears. Even if they don’t all make it. They’re going to win.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fourth degree burns are an actual thing and do not look up pictures because they are really really awful and gross looking. Hope you enjoyed and let me just say reviews give me the tingles. Talking to you guys brightens my day.


	11. mystEry twins

“Damn it Bill.” Dipper mutters as he looks in the mirror hanging over the sink. He twists and turns every which way, as if he’ll find the magic angle to make the mark disappear. The pink scar just stares back at him accusingly. Dipper sighs as he traces his fingers over the soft uneven skin. It’s still a little tender but he can’t stop touching it. He grits his teeth and scowls at his reflection. Even if it had been a dream he should have been smart enough to know better than to let the demon mark him. Bile rises in his throat. How fucking stupid. he pulls His shirt back on and turns the tap to cold. Dipper splashes his face and the chill chases away any lingering sluggishness. He pats his face dry on his towel and gives one last sigh before he exits the bathroom.

“Jesus!” Dipper startles back into the doorframe and then curses when he smacks his elbow on the wall hard enough to bruise. He hadn’t been expecting to find Mabel, Stan, Stanley, Soos, and Wendy waiting for him outside the door. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re really happy you’re awake now, but we need to keep moving forward.” Stanley says as he coaxes Dipper down the hallway with a too-large hand between his shoulderblades.

“Tons of junk got done while you were unconscious.” Wendy informs him.

“We finally got a look at the decrypted files Gramps had and no wonder Bill didn’t want us to have that laptop because his entire plan is laid out there. “

“Well not his entire plan, little dude. But a lot of it.” Soos adds.

“We’re hoping that you might be able to add some fresh insight to what we don’t know.” Stanford finishes as the group nearly shoves him into the library.

“Hi Dipper.” Pacifica greets and then, to his surprise, swoops in and saves him from the mob. She tugs him over to a table and shoves him down into a seat before picking up the laptop and setting it down in front of him. Candy comes over as well and hands him a bottle of water and a granola bar. His stomach growls alerting for the first time that he’s actually starving. “Okay, eat that and we’ll tell you what’s going on,” She glares at the group that had assaulted him coming out of the bathroom. “ _Calmly_.”

“Okay.” He twists the top of the water bottle loose.

“Before you passed out Ford was able to decrypt the laptop files. The first few were just complete gibberish, or at least _I_ thought they were.”

“But it turns out that they were written in a robotics code that I wrote back in the day.” McGucket adds.

“And I had made the codeword something that only Ford would pick. So that it would only be useful if all three of us were together.” Lee puts an arm around McGucket and Stanford’s shoulders.

“Mystery trio!” Mabel cheers with a grin. “So the files got opened and McGucket translated them into actual words and we finally know what Bill’s planning.”

“Which is? Seriously guys stop being dramatic, I’ve really had enough of it for one day.” He’s aware he’s acting a little surly. Too bad. He is surly.

“How much drama could you have had in your dreams?” Candy asks.

“My ex-boyfriend is an omniscient dream demon who’s currently trying to destroy the world and feels like the human mind is a playground and you’re really gonna ask me that, Candy?” It comes out a little harsher than he’d intended and the girl pinches him. “Ow.” She gives him a flat look. “Okay, I might have deserved that. Let’s just stick with I had a really shitty mini-coma and I would really like to know that it was worth it because you guys figured out how to stop Bill.”

“Sorry kid,” Stan informs him with a shrug. “We didn’t figure out everything.”

“But we did figure out this.” Pacifica points to a stack of papers beside the computer. “Bill’s not actually trying to destroy the world. At least not completely. Though don’t get your hopes up because it’s kinda so much worse.” She spreads out a couple of the papers. “He wants to merge the Mindscape and our plane of existence together so that he can rule over both the waking and dreaming worlds.”

“And he can actually do that?”

“Unfortunately we’re thinking ‘yes’.” Mabel chimes in.

“Bill’s been around for so long that it’s literally impossible not to find traces of him in at any point in human history. Stanley even found cave drawings of Bill dating back to early hominids. Which is really bad. Because humans are the highest form of intelligent life on the planet,”

“Unless you believe in _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ ,” Candy interjects seamlessly and Dipper has to high five her for the reference even as he listens intently to Pacifica’s explanation.

“Since we’re the most intelligent life on the planet, _even if some of us aren’t acting like it right now_ ,” The venom in her tone is lethal. “We’re basically the only lifeforms that the universe registers here and since Bill’s only ruling over human dreams in the Mindscape and Bill’s not technically so much a ‘lifeform’ as a ‘cosmic entity of immeasurable power’ we’re the only lifeforms in the Mindscape as well. That’s what makes it possible for him to merge the two and rule over whatever the world becomes.”

“Which admittedly didn’t sound as bad as the end of times when I was first thinking about it.” Soos says and Dipper turns his attention to the repair man. “But like, you remember what Bill was like when we first met him in Stan’s dreams. That was brutal man. And If he controls the waking and dreaming worlds together then we wouldn’t ever have the chance to fight back using our creativity and junk.”

“So endless nightmares, lots of hysteria, and probably death and destruction on a massive scale as people tear themselves apart trying to figure out what’s real or not.” Mabel finishes. “We might be a little better prepared here but that’s because the people in Gravity Falls are all  already used to seeing weird jazz. Everywhere else would just explode.”

“Okay, I got it. Bad things.” Dipper sets down the unopened granola bar so that he can take a look at some of the papers Pacifica had brought over. “How is he planning on doing this?”

“We’re not entirely sure.”  Stanley says. “But we think it has to do with the cult. Whatever they were summoning him for all those years ago I think it had to do with making sure that their families would have wealth and status when his plans came to fruition. I think that they set up something, like the portal in the Shack only on a massive scale, somewhere in Gravity Falls so that Bill will be able to rip away the barriers.”

“But we have no idea where to start looking?” Dipper guesses.

“We think we know where the portal is going to open.” Wendy says softly as she opens a map of Gravity Falls and lays it down on the table. “My mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake here.” She points to a red circle on the paper. Dipper opens his mouth to say something but his shock cripples his tongue. “She died when I was still pretty young and it was winter when she went missing. It was really cold that year, for the first time in decades the entire lake froze over. No one found her body until the ice thawed in spring and by that time it was impossible to tell if there had been any foul play involved.” Her voice is soft as she speaks and Dipper watches Soos weave his fingers through hers out of the corner of his eye. “And everyone knew that she was struggling with depression. So they ruled it a suicide.”

“But we found out that there had to be a sacrifice in order to enact a spell this big.” Soos says and there’s a guilty look on his face as he continues. “And that Wendy’s mom died right around the time my father skipped town.” He clears his throat and goes on. “We’re thinking now that my dad was the one who killed Mrs. Corderoy as the sacrifice.”

“Wendy I’m so sorry, I didn’t even,” Dipper stops and the red head gives him a small smile.

“Hey, I’m fine dude. It happened a long time ago. The problem is we have no idea what else Bill needs to open this portal.”

“Okay. So we need to figure out that. How much time is left on the countdown?”

“In three hours we’ll have exactly four days.” Dipper cringes a little.

“I guess we better work faster than.” He pauses. “But at some point we’re going to have to go outside and when we do we’re all just as vulnerable as I was yesterday. We have to figure out how to ward our minds from Bill.”

“You should work on that with your sister.” Stanley suggests. “You know the most about magical theory and demon protection and she’s the most magically inclined. You’ll two will figure something out if you work together.”

“Agreed.” Mabel says as she leans on the table beside her brother. “You guys keep looking for more clues?”

“Yeah.” Mabel picks up Dipper’s uneated granola bar and shoves it back into his hands before taking hold of his elbow and leading him towards the door.

“Come on, you need to eat more than that.” She doesn’t have to drag him for long as he falls into step beside her. “You should still start by eating that, especially if we’re going to be doing magic, but I want to make sure you’ve got something else in your stomach.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Dipper agrees. “I’m going to grab the warding books out of my backpack, I’ll meet you in the kitchen?”

“Okay, don’t take long.” She gives his arm a gentle squeeze before continuing down the hall as he turns off towards the living quarters.

* * *

Dipper shoves the last of the granola bar in his mouth as he’s walking into the kitchen. Mabel’s at the small electric stove boiling water for what Dipper thinks is mac and cheese. He pauses and really looks at her. The circles and frizzy hair from earlier are still present but it’s only now that he realizes that she’s not wearing a sweater or cardigan, just a thin magenta tank top and dark jeans. Her posture is rigid and the way she’s staring into the pot of seaming water teetering on the edge between intense and detached.

“Mabel?” Her head snaps up and she blinks before turning and smiling at him.

“Hey, let’s get started. I don’t know when we’re gonna need it but it seems better to have it ready sooner rather than later.” She starts babbling.

“Mabel,” His soft tone causes her to stop mid-sentence. She knows that tone. That’s the ‘we-need-to-talk’ tone. Her breath catches in her throat. She doesn’t want to talk. She can’t talk right now. “What’s wrong?” She could give him the snappy response. Explain that everything is wrong and they’re fighting someone who they used to trust, who used to be part of their family, but she’s not going to do that. She would never take such a low blow to get him to back off and he knows it. He stares at her with deep circles under his eyes and a weariness that hangs on his shoulders and she doesn’t know how to tell him, how not to tell him.

“Dipper,” He watches her face crumple and the second her voice hitched on his name fat tears are rolling down her cheeks. He moves forward immediately to wrap her in a hug but she shouts and steps away from him. “Don’t! Don’t touch me.” She repeats a little softer as she sniffles and scrubs at her face with the heel of her palm. “I was just scared. I was really really scared that you weren’t going to wake up.” She leans against the wall behind her and after a moment just slides down to sit with her knees pressed against her chest. Dipper waits a moment before walking over and sitting in a similar position beside her. They sit with only the sound of the slowly boiling water filling the space between them.

“I’m scared too. That some of us aren’t going to…” He stops. The words feel like a lie and he tries again “That Bill’s going to kill one of you.” Losing them would be bad, but knowing that Bill did it, knowing that it would probably only muddy his feelings towards the demon further than destroy them all together, it makes him hate himself. They reach for each other at the same time and twine their fingers together. “I can’t live without you Mabel. I don’t know how.”

“I know.” Dipper swallows hard as he fights back his own tears. “And I’ve done so much, I’ve tried so _hard_ Dipper, so that we would never have to be afraid of that again.” She cuts herself off to take a deep breath. “I’ve been doing some really bad things to keep us safe, Dipper.” He doesn’t say anything. “I know you know, I saw the sticky note.” A fresh wave of tears spills down her cheeks and her brother just tightens his hold on her hand. “I didn’t want you to find out.”

“Why?”

“I was scared you’d look at me like I was a monster,” her voice shakes, “that you would make a drawer for me.”

“Never.” There’s a fierceness in his voice that startles her. “Mabel you’ve given so much to protecting the people you love I would _never_ condemn you for that. You are the strongest person I know and nothing you ever do could make me love and respect you any less.” Dipper fights back the quivering in his voice. “You are not a monster.” He clenches his teeth and looks out at the wall opposite them and Mabel makes a wounded sound in the back of her throat.

“No, no, don’t do that. I can see what you’re thinking, don’t do that.” She reaches her other hand up to cup his cheek and makes him look at her. His eyes are bright with tears and self-loathing. “You weren’t alone. We all thought Bill was our friend. You didn’t let him into our lives we all invited him in. You were the only one who was smart enough to make sure that we would be okay in case we ever forgot exactly what he was. And _we_ did. _We all did_. You can’t blame yourself for that.” The tears slip down his cheeks and he squeezes his eyes shut as his shoulders begin to shake. “Dipper,” They rest their foreheads against one another. Dipper takes her hand from his cheek and they clutch at both of each others hands, one arm crossed over the other as they hold onto one another for dear life. “Do you remember when we were saying things were so good? Back in November?” Her brother huffs a watery laugh.

“Yeah. Guessed we jinxed ourselves, huh?”  That gets a laugh out of his sister and this close together he can see the tears have matted her lashes together, the liquid still clinging to them like diamonds.

“I was trying to tell you then,” She sniffles and gives him the brightest smile she can manage. “I know Pacifica’s going to ask me to marry her.”

“Really? Congratulations.” He grins back.

“Yeah, that’s what a normal person would think, right? But I’m so scared. I’ve been running away from her every time things get proposal-romantic. I’m so scared that I’m going to mess it up. She’s the only person I’ve ever loved like this Dipper. I don’t want to lose her.”

“That’s never gonna happen Mabel. Pacifica adores you and I’m sure if you talked to her about this she would tell you how ridiculous you’re being. You two are too amazing of people for it to go wrong.” Mabel makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

“But I thought the same thing about you and Bill.” His chest tightens.

“Bill and I didn’t stop loving each other. I didn’t ‘lose’ him, Mabel. He’s just a power-hungry bastard who wants to rule the world more than anything else and I’m a dumb human who wants to save everyone. We didn’t ‘go wrong’ we just didn’t change who we were to be together. You and Pacifica don’t have that problem. You two are more yourselves around each other than I’ve ever seen anyone else. You don’t have to be scared.” Mabel tightens her hold on his hands.

“And you don’t have to feel guilty. None of this has been your fault.”

“Awkward sibling hug?”

“Awkward sibling hug.” They clutch each other too tightly and for too long but it isn’t awkward at all.

* * *

The library is solem as the rest of  the group works through the piles of research in hope that magically an answer will pop out at them. Like somehow one simple line of text, one incantation, one crumb of information will pop out and give them everything they need to save the world. Gerenda shuffles the papers in front of her, pushing away the ones she’s looked at and pulling a fresh stack towards her before glancing around the room. Everyone is leaning over their own sections of work and they all look worn down. There’s not even a shadow of the joy there was two days ago when they were playing in the snow. That’s just no good. No one can live under this much stress without something to relieve the tension. Grenda picks up one of Candy’s highlighters.

* * *

Candy reaches for her yellow highlighter. She’s been color-coding their notes. Logging the family histories of the Northwest’s in pink, the Corduroy's in orange, the Ramirez’s in yellow, the Valentino’s in green, and the Gleeful’s in blue. She looks up when her hand just meets a stack of parchments instead. She looks to her other side and takes a glance under the table to make sure it hadn’t rolled away.

“Grenda, have you seen-” She turns to look at the taller girl and her words stop. Grenda has drawn a mustache on herself as well as written ‘kool gal’ across her forehead using her missing yellow highlighter. The words and design glow under the small blacklight that she must have borrowed from the second Mr. Pines. Candy stares for a long moment before she snorts. The sound makes everyone else in the quiet room look up. She presses her hand against her mouth and nose and Grenda beams at her, smile stretching the glowing mustache. The laughter bubbles out of her faster than she can stop it and soon Candy is doubled over in her chair laughing so hard she thinks her diaphragm will rupture and that her shaking will knock her glasses loose from her face.

She squeaks as she falls from her chair, reaching to catch herself on the edge of the table only to send a stack of papers falling on top of her. It doesn’t take long then for the laughter to spread through the room, wild and hysterical. So desperate for something to make them smile that soon the entire group is gasping for air. All because of a stupid drawn-on mustache. Eventually Grenda gets her wits about her enough to help the petite girl up off the floor. Candy grins at her as they pick up the fallen papers.

“Thank you.” She says softly as they stand back up. They all needed that.  Grenda just gives her a triumphant smirk as they settle back down at the table. She reaches to turn off the backlight but Grenda catches her arm just as she wraps her fingers around the device.

“Look!” She points across the table at the map of Gravity Falls, from the days when it was first founded, that they’d gotten from City Hall. Candy picks up the light and shines it directly over the map.

“Guys,” She calls to the room. “We found something…” The shock at being able to say that is clear in her voice. She traces her finger over the glowing blue lines.

“Get Dipper and Mabel.” Grenda adds as she stares down at the map.

* * *

“What did you find?” Mabel asks as soon as she and Dipper are in the room.

“It looks like someone drew a map overtop the original. It’s signed Trembly.”

“What? As in the eight and a half president, Quentin Trembly?” Dipper asks as he pees over to look at the glowing lines. “What is it a map of?”

“Mass graveyards.” Candy says in her usual blunt manner.

“I guess that explains Robbie’s folks.” Wendy says as she runs a finger carefully over one of the lines. “We haven’t dug up much of anything on the Valentino’s except that they’ve been in the funeral parlor business since the town was founded. They must have been helping to hide all of these bodies for the cult.” Wendy shudders. “Seriously this makes a disturbing amount of sense. Robbie always said he thought his parents were kind of off, and I just thought it was an angsty teen thing, and his parent’s alway said that they hoped we would work it out and settle down so that he would stop ‘acting out’. No wonder they tried so hard to act completely normal and wanted Robbie to do the same. If they’ve been making corpses disappear for two hundred years it makes sense that they wouldn’t want anyone to pay too much attention to them.”

“Can I just point out the concerning placement of said graveyards?” Stan interrupts, picking up the nearest writing utensil and circling three spots. “The Mystery Shack, Northwest Manor, and the water tower.”

“And let me one up my brother,” Stanley takes the marker out of Stan’s hand and draws a surprisingly straight line connecting the circles. An inverted triangle appears on the paper with a circle marking the lake as the center. It looks unsettlingly similar to the design of the portal generator.

“That’s probably bad.” Soos states the obvious.

“Well,” Dipper finally speaks up as he stares at the paper. “I guess that makes sense. All of the people who died must have died tragically, that gives their souls more power and a strong caster, or you know a demon, wouldn’t have any trouble drawing on that and using it for power.”

“This also explains how you were able to raise an army of the dead from under the Shack when we were twelve.” Mabel adds.

“But you guys killed them all through the power of song.” Soos says. “Sorry about trying to eat your brains, by the way. But shouldn’t that mean the power’s gone?”

“No. Spiritual power lives beyond the physical body. That energy seeps into the very earth and air. It would still be there after we killed the zombies.” Mabel informs the man while frowning at the map. “But this is good.”

“If we know where the energy is coming from to rip open the portal then we know how to stop it. All we have to do is destroy the energy sources.”

“How?” Pacifica asks.

“Burn the earth.”

“That sounds doable, in the middle of winter, with half a foot of snow on the ground.” She points out with a lethal, although reasonable, amount of sarcasm.

“It is.” Dipper insists.

“I can make anything burn.” Mabel says quickly. “Even snow. Haven’t you heard? Magic is the new Greek fire.” She gives her partner a shit-eating grin.

“You’re going to burn down the Shack?” There’s a kind of sadness in Soos’s voice which gives the group at large pause. The youngest set of twins share a look.

“I don’t think we need to really, at this point.” Dipper finally says.

“Yeah, I’ve set the earth there on fire so many times that nothing could be left.”

“Okay, then we go out and burn everything else, and save the world.” Wendy interjects cheerfully. “Right? That’s it?”

“We’re going to have to dodge Cipher too.” Stan grunts. “How is the ward-making coming along? We won’t be stopping anything if we’re all unconscious.”

“We’re getting close.”

“So then Dipper and I will finish the spell and then we’ll go out and burn the graves. We have a _plan_ guys.” Mabel says and the enthusiasm in her voice is almost hysterical. “We actually have a plan.”

“We’re going to stop the end of the world.” Wendy adds.

“We’re going to get out of this Bunker.” Stan grumbles with his own reserved kind of excitement.

“We’re going to win.” Stanley says as they all stand around the table staring down at the map.

“Team Mystery!” Soos cheers throwing his arms up triumphantly. After a moment the rest of the group does the same raising their arms and parroting his bright,

“Team Mystery!” As they stand in the center of the library that until that day had only been filled with misery every single one of them has one thought in their minds: About damn time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering the liquid that was glowing under the blacklight was club soda which was invented in 1767.


	12. the abyss sTares back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna warn for character death of minor characters this chapter and the gore warning applies here.

“So what is this exactly?” Pacific asks as Mabel dips her finger into a blackish paste and smears it on her forehead in a triangular spiral.

“You don’t want to know.” The blonde tenses.

“No. Now I want nothing more than to know.” There’s a beat of silence. “Seriously Mabel, what is it?”

“A mix of ash, sage and, “ She says the last part very quietly under her breath. “Dipper’s blood.”  Pacifica jerks away from her girlfriend’s hands.

“What?!” Mabel cringes. “Why are you smearing your brother’s blood on my forehead?! Isn’t there a less disgusting way for us to protect ourselves against Bill?”

“Nope. Dipper’s body has been the most changed by Bill’s magic, the ash and sage will detect that power and repel it.” Stanley clears his throat and raises a six-fingered hand pointedly.

“I accepted a demonic courtship with Bill.” Dipper says in way of explanation and watches as both Stans go very pale. “Bill’s marked me on a cellular level.”

“You did what?” Stanford’s voice is too shocked to be furious but Dipper knows that he’s headed in that direction.

“Look, that’s seriously not our biggest issue right now.” Mabel says as she finishes tracing the spirals at the base of Pacifica’s throat and then on the tops of her hands. “Once everyone’s marked we’re going to have to head out. And I hate to sound like a horror movie cliché but we should probably split up.”

“We can head to the water tower.” Wendy offers and Soos nods.

“Even if the Shack isn’t a useful energy source anymore I don’t like letting the portal just sit there.” Stanley says with a frown.

“I can go to the Shack and start deconstruction.” McGucket offers.

“Mabel and I are going to the lake.”

“Then I’m coming too, you brats.” Grunkle Stan huffs.

“You should go with McGucket,” Mabel moves over to Soos to give him the markings. “So that you can help him tear down the portal.”

“No way. You kids are my responsibility, I haven’t done the best job with that, but I’m not about to let you walk into the fire without me.”

“And I’m not about to lose my family again.” Stanley adds.

“Guys the sentiment is nice but someone has to help McGucket with the portal.” Dipper sighs.

“We can go help out McGucket.” Candy offers and the Pines turn to look at them. “I am good with precise work.”

“And I’m good at tearing things apart.” Grenda says cheerfully. “We’ve got it covered.”

“I’ll go home.”

“You have to bring someone with you, Pacifica.” Mabel insists.

“No I don’t.”

“Yes you do, seriously, what if Bill comes after you?” The other twin asks with a frown.

“Bill made a deal a while back, that he wouldn’t come near me or let anything else dangerous and supernatural come close. If he’s bound to honor deals then I should be safe.” She ties her hair up and out of her face. “And it’s just my house, guys. It’ll take me five minutes.”

“I think you’re forgetting just how large your house is, gumdrop.” Pacifica snorts at the nickname.

“What deal?” Dipper starts to ask but his sister throws him a look and he shuts his mouth and sighs. It’s not really important anyway.

“Seriously, I’ll be fine guys. I’ll take care of the manor, you just deal with your stuff.”

“Okay. Then what about the fire starting?” Stanley turns towards Mabel who’s working on Grenda. “You have the magical equivalent of Greek Fire?”

“You betchya Grandpa Lee.” Dipper picks up the mason jars filled with glitter.

“Mabel, sweetie, not to question your magical prowess but this is a jar of glitter.” Grunkle Stan says slowly.

“Well glitter was all I had to enchant. We could have used macaroni but I thought that this was cooler.” She sticks her tongue out at Stan. “Sprinkle it into the accelerant and it’ll burn through anything, including snow and ice.”

“Magic to go. Cool.” Wendy says picking up a jar and shaking it gently in the light to watch how it glimmers.

“Attack Glitter 2.0.” Soos adds.

“How much should we use? We’re not looking to burn down the whole town.” Pacifica asks as Mabel finishes drawing the last set of spirals on Dipper.

“About half a jar to every gallon of gasoline. I made a lot, so make sure you take extra.”

“Speaking of gas since the renovations nothing in the Bunker runs on it anymore, so we don’t have any to work with. So when we head out you’re going to need to get your hands on some. I know there’s some in the garage at the Shack but,”  
“We have some in our garage too. I’ll use what’s there.” Pacifica waves off his concerns. “Wendy and Soos can grab whatever’s in the Shack and take it to the water tower.”

“My car should still be there so we can drive over, but what about you?” Soos asks of the blonde.

“She can take my scooter.” Mabel hooks her arm through her partner’s and tilts her head so their temples are brushing. “Make sure you wear the helmet.”

“I will. How sad would it be if I died from not wearing a helmet while we’re trying to stop the apocalypse?” She scoffs.

“So what are-” Soos is cut off when the earth lurches and a loud crash comes echoing down the corridors. They’re thrown from their feet and Dipper goes down hard only to end up with at least one teenage girl falling on top of him.

“What the hell was that?” Stanford questions as he gets to his feet and helps up his brother.

“Shit, I don’t know but if that broke through the doors the wards might have been broken.” Dipper pushes himself off the ground as concrete dust swirls through the air. The lights flicker overhead. “Here, take the glitter guys and head out the emergency exit.” He orders his friends, shoving jars into Soos, Wendy, and Pacifica’s arms.

“What about you guys?” Soos addresses the Pines family as a whole.

“Look getting those graves burned is all that matters right now. We’ll stay and keep Bill distracted.”

“And how are you supposed to do that exactly? He’s a demon! You can’t _fight_ that!” There’s a desperation in Pacifica’s voice as she stares at them with wide blue eyes. “Mabel,”

“It’ll be okay. We can handle ourselves. I promise. And when this is all over I have a question to answer for you.”

“Ugh you’re such a fucking loser.” The blonde pulls her in close for a quick desperate kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Soos and Wendy both take a moment to give each twin a hug before there’s another crash, heading close to them, and they’re forced to leave. The Pines family stand together in the library for one long moment.

“Well I have to say this wasn’t what I expected to do as our first family outing after I brought you back, Lee.” Stanford says as he straightens his jacket. His brother snorts a little as he picks up the large futuristic gun he’d brought back through the portal.

“Really? Cause this is almost exactly what I thought we’d be doing.”

“Maybe next time we do a family outing we can just get pizza and play laser tag?” Dipper suggests as he pulls on his backpack and makes sure his dagger is strapped tightly to his thigh.

“Only if you’re ready to lose little bro.” Mabel adds as they hear someone rapidly approaching the door.

“You’re no match for me, Mabel.” All four tense as the sounds grow nearer. They stare at the door. Mabel’s amulet starts to glow.

Wendy skids to a halt in front of the open doorway panting.

“What the hell?”

“We’ve got a problem guys!”

* * *

“Wendy what are you doing, I thought you guys were leaving?” Dipper asks as he approaches the red head.

“Yeah, that’s kinda the problem. The other exits are sealed up. We can’t get out that way. We have to go through whatever caved-in the front entrance.”

“Fuck.” Dipper runs a hand through his hair.

“Okay, we can still handle this.” Stanley says reasonably. “We’ll keep him occupied while you guys wait for the opportunity to slip past him.”

“That sounds like a really shitty plan Grandpa.” Mabel mutters. “But it’s all we’ve got so game’s back on.”

“Get the others and tell them what to do. Wait until it sounds like the fight is really starting to pick up.” Dipper instructs the older girl.

“Okay.” She dashes back down the corridor and the Pines stand in silence for a moment.

“Does anyone else feel like that totally ruined the mood of badassery that we were building up?” Mabel asks.

“Probably not the best time to be worrying about that kiddo.”

“Come on. Let’s go fight an interdimensional omniscient demon with powers beyond our puny human conceptions.”

“That you’ve slept with.”

“That I’ve slept with.”

* * *

Dipper’s not entirely sure what he was expecting to find when they came to the front entrance but it wasn’t this. Yes the concrete walls have been blown inwards, and yes there is rubble everywhere, and yes the lights are hardly flickering on anymore at this point, but no. He didn’t expect to see this.

“Well I’ll be, if it isn’t the Pines family. About time you came out to greet us. It’s been such a long time now hasn’t it?”

“Gideon.” Dipper says through clenched teeth. The other man in question hasn’t changed much since childhood. He’s still a bit heavier and wrapped in a powder blue suit with immaculately combed snow white hair. The most off-putting thing about seeing Gideon is the fact that he isn’t Bill, or perhaps the yellow amulet that’s glowing away at his throat. “How was prison?”

“Well I can’t say I cared for it all that much.” He wrinkles his nose. “Why Stanford Pines am I seeing double?”

“We don’t have time for this Gideon, get out of our way and maybe we won’t kick your ass.” Dipper snaps.

“Oh I think you’ll make time for me, Dipper Pines!” He flicks his wrist and Dipper is sent flying.

“Don’t touch him!” Mabel throws a slab of concrete at Gideon and in his distraction plucks her brother from the air before he can hit the ground.

“Oh sugar pie,” Gideon says in a simpering tone as he deflects the rubble and his eyes lock onto Mabel. “Isn’t this wonderful. We’re even more well-matched now.” Mabel tenses.

“You won’t be thinking we’re so well-matched when I knock out your teeth.”

“Gideon.” The new voice has all of the Pines’ heads snapping towards the gaping hole that was once the doorway. A middle-aged man stands among the rubble. He has a thin face and dark hair peppered with silver and his bony shoulders are wrapped in a casual dark blazer and white buttondown shirt. His eyes are narrowed but even then Dipper can see the slightly elongated pupils and the tint of yellow in his scleras. “Subdue them or our deal is off.” His voice is a strange mixture of the one that Dipper knows and the tenor of the body he’s possessing. His gaze shifts to look Dipper in the eye and the face splits into a grin he’s always known but rarely seen on a human face. “Hey there Pine Tree.”

* * *

Pacifica crouches around the corner with the rest of the gang as they watch the Pines family stare down Gideon and Bill. Her heart thumps uneasily in her chest and a bead of sweat runs down her temple. The battle hasn’t started, not in it’s fullest yet, and her legs burn from holding her position as she longs to dash to Mabel’s side. She knows that man. She saw him once, years ago in the forest. He had been sweating and shaking and furious and sad and he had made a deal with a demon. He had begged for his wife to suffer and die. His wife Johannah Pride. Gideon throws a few pieces of rubble at the Pines and they all dart out of the way. Mabel returns the fire and before she knows it the air is filled with crashes and dust and she can’t see Mabel anymore. She’s frozen in place.

“Come on!” Candy roughly shakes her shoulder before she and the others dart along the wall, trying to stay to the edge of the fray and remain unnoticed. Pacifica shoots to her feet but her legs wobble beneath her unsteadily. She covers her head as she runs as pieces of rubble rain down on them as Gideon and Mabel switch from throwing pieces of the walls to shooting energy at each other.

“Aw ain’t you spunkier than a hummingbird in a field of wild flowers. Let’s see if my killing your family changes that.” Gideon shoots off another blast towards Dipper who throws up a barrier at the last second. Pacifica watches him skid against the concrete before Mabel is rushing at the white haired caster. She throws a punch and Pacifica watches as her hand glances off of a shield before she’s being thrown back. Stanford rushes forward to catch her before she lands in the rubble and they both go down in a heap. Her heart pounds as she prays that they move. Get up. She thinks frantically. Get up Mabel. “I hate to play so rough with you sugar but you’re just not giving me much of a choice.”  Mabel and Stanford both push themselves up. Mabel kneels looking up at Gideon, her eyes bright, her cheek bruised, and blood smeared on her teeth and Pacifica’s heart flips.

“You want to play rough? Okay. Let’s play rough! Stanley!” Pacifica can’t stay still any longer. She runs towards the exit and as she does so accidentally catches Bill’s eye. The demon pauses and stares at her with gritted teeth. She sees he wants to move towards her, watches his hands clench tightly at his sides, blue sparks flare up up around his skin. But he doesn’t move towards her as she darts past.

* * *

“Stanley!” The man fires at the ‘Gideon’ brat and the blast that shoots through the air is blinding. It hits the white haired man straight in the chest but as it connects Stanley sees a bright yellow light engulf his body. The blast ricochets back towards them.

“Get down!” His family members dive out of the way.  He lands closest to Dipper who is muttering line after line of spellcraft under his breath. He watches the skin on his grandson’s hands turn red, fairly certain he’s attempting some kind of protection. Gideon is uncomfortably fixated on Mabel and he wants nothing more than to knock that slimy grin off of the man’s face. His head whirls around to catch sight of his granddaughter or of Ford but the dust in the air has only grown thicker as the battle furthers the damage to the entrance of the Bunker. He squints through the debris and thinks he catches sight of Bill and whatever poor bastard he’s possessing. The demon has stayed out of the fight for the most part and he’s not sure if that’s a relief or if it’s more worrying. He doesn’t get the chance to think on it further because he’s being lifted from the ground and held tightly in a field of yellow.

“You dare interrupt me?” The Gideon brat snarls. There’s a scorch on his suit but no other evidence of being shot at. “And you’ve ruined my suit old man! This is unacceptable!” The world goes very quiet for a moment and Stanley registers that he’s been thrown. Then there’s pain and blackness.

* * *

“Lee!” Dipper watches Stanley be thrown through the wall and moves to stand but Stan is already rushing to his brother’s side.

“Don’t touch them!” Mabel roars as she sends wave after wave of bright pink fire at Gleeful. Her eyes burn brightly and there is blood and dirt smeared across her tanktop and jeans. Gideon waves his hand and sends the flames up towards the ceiling causing it to burn through the overhead lights and making glass rain down over them. Dipper covers his head with his arms and Gideon takes Mabel’s momentary distraction when she does the same to move in close and wrap his hand around her throat. His other hand rips the headband off her head and tosses it out of her reach and the snarl that her face contorts into tells her brother that Gideon took some hair with that move as well.

“Mabel!” Dipper jumps to his feet and runs towards them. Slipping his dagger free of its holster and holding the hilt tight in his hand. He’ll cleave through flesh and bone and make sure that Gideon can’t ever touch Mabel again with the stumps he leaves behind.

“Don’t interrupt me boy!” Gideon waves his hand and Dipper’s soaring through the air and landing heavily on his side. The dagger skids away across the concrete.

* * *

“Now where was I my sweet?” Gideon turns his attention back towards Mabel who has dug her nails into the flesh of his meaty hand. He squeezes her throat a little tighter. “I just can’t wait until I have you all to myself, I’m going to lock you up and shower you in the finest things when we’re together in the new world,” Mabel spits in his face.

“Eat me.”His cheeks enflame with red as the pink tinged saliva drips down his features. She doesn’t even see the blow coming before her head is whipping to the side and her face is blossoming with pain from temple to chin. She sees blood spatter against the rubble beneath them as he follows through with his swing and thinks her skin must have been split by one of his rings.

“You vile little girl! You ungrateful brat!” He shakes her viciously and she struggles to find enough breath to mutter a spell. One ounce of her magic should be enough to rip him apart, and god how she wants to see his limbs fly off. “I am promising you everything that you could ever want! A life of comfort and pampering and you dare, you dare spit at me!” Gideon is too close to her face. She can smell his breath as it wafts hot over her cheeks and see the fury burning in his eyes. She’d rather just burn his eyes. She’d love to watch them boil in his skull. Her hand swipes out for his amulet but he catches her wrist before her fingers can even touch the stone. His grip around her throat tightens and her airway is cut off as he yanks her arm to the side and gives it a vicious twist. She hardly has enough breath to scream as the bones crack.

“Mabel!” She hears Dipper call for her. Her vision wavers.

“That’s enough.” Gideon doesn’t even turn to look at the demon.

“You stay out of this Cipher!” He says as he shakes her like a doll. “I was promised this and I am going to do what I like to her!”

“But you’ve already outlived your usefulness.” The hand around her throat loses enough for her to take a gasping breath. Pain is still rocketing up and down her arm as she cracks her eyes open.

“What are you--!” She watches as Bill’s borrowed hands come up to grip Gideon by the sides of his face and then twists. His neck doesn’t just break. The force behind the demon’s movement separates layers of flesh and fat and blood pours out of the wound as Bill twists and lifts. She hears the sickening pop of bones separating from cartilage as Gideon’s hand goes slack and she drops to her knees hard. Bill pulls the head from the lifeless shoulders and Mabel can see a few of the vertebrae hanging from the severed head. Her stomach rolls but she’s seen severed heads before.

“I only needed you to open the door, Powder Blue.” Bill says with easy amusement. Mabel scrambles to grasp the amulet that Gideon had tossed away and before the body can even slump halfway to the ground it is expanding like an over inflated balloon. She rushes over to Dipper who throws an arm around her shoulders and the Stan’s join them in running towards the door as Gideon’s body explodes, covering their escape in a rain of flesh and blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three more chapters to go....


	13. Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for more minor character death.

Wendy and Soos waste no time in loading his car with the gas and tearing out of the Shack parking lot. It’s really the first time either of them has been through town since the morning after Stanley’s arrival. The roads have been cleared but the damage done by the portal opening is still visible. As they speed down the road Wendy watches as glassless window after glassless window stream by. Clouds turn the sky gray but she knows with a glance at the clock on the radio that the sun is just beginning to set. Her heart pounds in her chest and she clutches the ax laying across her lap tightly. She’d taken it while they were in the garage and even though the handle isn’t the same smooth familiar wood as her own it provides her some relief. She doesn’t want to feel defenseless even if she doesn’t think swinging an ax at Bill or Gideon is going to do a whole lot of good.

“Here, you’re shaking.” Soos turns up the heat and points the vents at her. She is cold but that’s not why she’s trembling.

“So are you big guy.” Soos makes an amused sound.

“That’s because I’m terrified.” Soos presses on the gas pedal a little harder and glances at the speedometer. “I wasn’t expecting him to show up so soon.”

“I wasn’t expecting him to bring Gideon with him.” Wendy runs a finger very carefully over the cool leather cover for the blade.

“They’ll be okay though.” Soos sounds like he’s trying to convince himself of that fact. “They’re way too cool to get brought down by a dude in a baby blue suit.”

“Way too cool. Mabel’s magic can whoop Gideon’s ass.” She purses her lips and nods.

“I have no idea what we’re worrying about.” Soos forces a laugh as they come nearer to the water tower.

“Yeah, they’ll be fine.” The repair man pulls his car as close to the water tower that he can before parking. They’ll still have to walk about twenty yards through the snow in order to be standing directly under it but he doesn’t pause as he unclicks his seatbelt.

“Come on. Let’s get this done.”

They each grab a gallon of gasoline and carry it through the snow. After a moment they start spreading the liquid around the tower, starting underneath it and working their way out for about fifteen feet. They alternate spreading the glitter and the gas and they’re about halfway finishes when rapid footsteps crunch through the snow towards them.

“Keep working.” She instructs Soos. Wendy drops the red container and the mason jar before picking up the ax and sliding the blade free of its holder. She clutches it tightly as she waits. Her father comes crashing into the clearing looking frantic and Wendy lowers the ax.

“Wendy!”

“Dad?” He rushes over to her and wraps her in a hug. She quickly jerks the ax back so that she doesn’t accidentally gut him. “Dad what are you doing out here?”

“I’ve been looking for you! You’ve been missing for over a week, I checked your apartment as soon as we got home but you weren’t there! Where were you?” His large gloved hands touch her cheeks, her shoulders, her biceps, as he checks her over for injuries.

“I’m fine, Dipper’s boyfriend is trying to destroy the world, we’ve been working to stop it. That’s kind of what we’re in the middle of doing right now, Dad.” She gestures at the gas and snow.

“End the world? I thought that kid stopped believing in all of that junk! I thought you stopped indulging him.” Her father scowls. “Is that what you’ve been doing all this time? Playing make-believe with a kid who’s more than old enough to know better? Damn it Wendy I filed a missing person’s report! I thought you had been killed or hurt in the earthquake!”

“Earthquake? That’s what you people are calling it?” She steps out of his hold and frowns at her father. She’s never thought of herself as separate to the Gravity Falls community before. Perhaps it’s about time she started to. “Because going completely zero-gravity is a completely normal thing to happen during an earthquake, right? God you’re accusing Dipper of ‘playing make-believe’ when you’re pretending that Gravity Falls is a completely normal town where nothing strange ever happens? Are you kidding me Dad?” His face is starting to turn the same shade of red as his hair.

“Wendy--”

“Look Dad, if you want to have this out with me later that’s _fine_ , but Soos and I are busy right now trying to save the lives of every single person on the planet. If you want to go slinking back into town with your tail between your legs like _Cowardly_ Dan Corderoy and go pretending that there isn’t anything strange going on in Gravity Falls then _go_. We have work to do.” She holsters the ax across her back and picks the gasoline and weaponized glitter back up and begins to spread them over the earth. There’s a tight knot in her stomach, sinking somewhere between anger and despair at having told her dad off and at having needed to have to tell her dad off. Soos remains blessfully silent through the exchange and as she goes back to work. She tosses handfuls of glitter into the snow and after a few minutes is surprised when someone else splashes gas into the snow beside her. She looks up, but Soos is still working along the other side of the water tower. Wide eyes turn to her companion and a warmth floods her chest as she watches her father dump the liquid into the snow. “Thanks Dad.” He grunts.

“I don’t understand none of it,” He scowls at the ground. “But people have been seeing things in the streets at night. No ones quite sure what’s real or not right now. But you’re my little girl, and I trust you.”

“You guys almost done?” Soos calls.

“Yeah dude, just give us another minute.” She throws another handful of glitter to the ground. Okay. It’s time to see if Mabel’s as good as she thinks.

* * *

The Pines Family quickly heads deeper into the forest. Mabel runs beside Dipper, broken arm pressed tightly to her chest and he can see how tightly she’s clenching her teeth and how pale she’s become as she tries to hide her pain. He knows they need to get to the lake but Dipper’s not sure how to go about it now that he knows Bill’s taken a human form. Everything seems to be muddled now that he knows Bill has a physical body. They could head back to the Shack to try and get the car and drive to the lake but a part of him cringes to think what would happen if the demon realizes what Candy, Grenda, and McGucket are working on in the basement lab. No it’s too risky.

“Where are we going kid?” Stanford asks as he and Stanley jog behind the younger twins.

“We’re gonna take the caves. Follow us.” He takes a sharp turn and heads for the Multibear’s cave. “Mabel,” He calls over his shoulder. She’s still running like a champ, her face hard and determined and covered in blood and bruises. “Can you cover our tracks?”

“I got it.” She flicks her good wrist and Dipper doesn’t know what exactly she’s doing but now he’s at least fairly sure that Bill won’t be able to follow their tracks in the snow. He wants to say something but he’s being knocked on his ass in the next second, landing hard and feeling the icy snow work its way under pieces of his clothes as he skids through it. The Gremloblin that had knocked him over roars once at him before racing back on its path through the forest and Dipper is left coping with a tiny heart attack.

“You okay kid?” Stanley offers him a hand and Dipper takes it and gets to his feet.

“Yeah I’m fine, but that was weird. Weird and bad.”

“The Gremloblins should be hibernating at this time of year.”

“Yeah well I think the apocalypse is enough to wake anyone up. “ Stan grunts. “Everything in the forest probably senses that something bad’s about to happen.”

“Right. Yeah, okay. Come on, let’s keep moving. We need to get to the lake.”

* * *

Mabel knows that something is wrong as soon as they approach the mouth of the cave. There are scuff marks in the snow and hoove patterns. Broken branches litter the surrounding area and she sees claw marks in the ground. Her stomach sinks as her heart rate skyrockets and hot fear spreads through her veins. She scrambles a head of Dipper, almost tripping over her own feet as she does which jars her arm painfully. It makes her guts clench up and she thinks she’ll be sick but she continues forward into the mouth of the cave. After a few steps there’s no more snow and her footsteps echo against the compacted dirt.

“Multibear!” She cries out. Her voice echoes back at her as she heads further down the cavern. “Multibear!” Mabel comes to a stop when the cave opens up into the massive cavern which connects many of the branches of the tunnel system. Her breath catches in her throat when she spots the shape lying on the ground. “No, no, no,” She says softly as she approaches the figure. He’s been beaten, badly, some of his extra limbs twisted and some of his heads bashed in. There are other wounds too. Gouges she thinks must have been made by the Manitaurs’ horns. He’s not moving, all sets of eyes staring blankly up at the rocky surface of the cavern ceiling. There’s a lot of blood. Mabel doesn’t even bother being disgusted by it as she sinks to her knees beside her friend’s corpse. The liquid is cool, thick, and sticky as it starts to seep into her jeans. She reaches out her uninjured hand to close the eyes on his primary head before stroking his fur gently.

“Mabel?” Dipper spots her first and then the mangled body of the Multibear. His breath goes out of him like he’s been punched and he steps over to Mabel’s side. After a moment he sinks down beside her. Staring at their friend. Stanley and Stanford both share a look. They don’t have time to let them grieve. Stanford goes and puts a gentle hand on Mabel’s shoulder and Stanley does the same for Dipper.

“Come on, we have to go, sweetie.” Grunkle Stan says in a soft voice. “We’ll come back and give him a proper burial, later.” Mabel’s skin is so cold. He’s not surprised. She’s been running around in twenty degree weather without a coat. He shrugs off his suit jacket and drapes it over her shoulders, careful not to jostle her arm.

“Okay Grunkle Stan.” She says in a small voice that makes his heart squeeze. She sounds so young and so, so tired. Mabel gets to her feet without his help and Dipper follows her lead. They both know there’s not enough time for tears.

“Which way?” Stanley asks gently. Mabel points at a cave branching off to the far right. “Okay.”

“Let’s go.” Dipper and Mabel are very quiet as they walk down the corridor and after a moment they both reach for each other. They find each other’s hands in the darkness and weave their fingers together and no one says a word.

* * *

Pacifica pulls up to the manor and is unsurprised to see it in exactly the same sate as it had been when she left with Mabel a week ago. Her parents go on holiday every year for December and with only a week until Christmas she doubts highly that they would have returned for anything. Why come back home to check if their disappointment of a daughter had or had not been killed in a town-wide disaster? She sneers at the broken windows and heads inside. There isn’t as much gas in the garage as she thought there was but she shrugs. She’ll work her way around that.

She starts at the top floor and works her way through each room and down the hall. She takes extra time to douse all of her mother’s clothes and her parents’ bed. She gets the entire top floor done and half of the second floor before she runs out of gas and takes a break. Pacifica goes into her bedroom and over to her closet. She reaches onto the top shelf and grabs the purse she’s looking for immediately. The blonde unzips the bag and sticks her hand inside, fingers curling around the blue box, and pulling it out of the purse. She tosses the bag away before opening the box and staring down at the ring she’s been trying to give Mabel for two months. Her fingers stroke over the beautifully cut diamonds that glitter even in the low light before she shoves it deep into her jacket pocket and zips it up. Then Pacifica moves into the bathroom, grabs any cleaner marked ‘flammable’ and begins to douse her room as well. She continues working through the house spreading accelerant and glitter as she goes. She stops only long enough to knock over the ridiculously expensive liquor cabinet filled with her parent’s ridiculously  expensive liquor.

By the time she makes it out the front door her head is a little light from smelling all of the different chemicals throughout the house. She hopes that she didn’t mix anything too dangerous. Oh well. Nothing she can do about it now. Pacifica pours a trail leading down the drive and coats it with a liberal amount of pink glitter. She leans on Mabel’s scooter as she strikes a match and drops it onto the line. The flames roar upward so quickly she almost knocks the vehicle over when she jerks back in surprise. It only takes a minute for the flames to consume the house. It blazes in the night and Pacifia stares at it for a long time as the air becomes thick with smoke. She stays watching her house burn until she starts to hear sirens in the distance. At that point she climbs back on the scooter and pulls out of the drive deciding to go see if they need help at the Shack.

* * *

When the Pines finally come out of the caves onto the bank of the lake they’re unsurprised to see it entirely frozen over.They stare out at it for a long moment. In the darkness it seems silvey and peaceful. The air is quiet and the clouds have parted enough so that they can see the stars shimmering above them. Ironically Dipper thinks he spots the constellation that had given him his namesake. Sarcastic clapping starts from across the bank and all four members of the Pines family turn to look at the source of the sound.

“Wow, you finally made it, good.” Bill says as he grins at them. “I was starting to worry that all that talk about stopping me was really talk, and it just wouldn’t be any fun if I didn’t get to do the whole dramatic villain reveal that your action movies are so fond of.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble Cipher,” Stan growls at the demon. “But we already figured out your plan.”

“Yeah, no monologuing.” Please. Dipper knows how much Bill loves the sound of his own voice.

“And I bet you figured out a very clever way to stop it, didn’t ya Stanford?” Bill’s cane materializes in his strange human hands and he twirls it between his fingers before tapping it on the ground twice and leering at them. “But did you figure out my back-up plan?”

A chill that has nothing to do with the weather races down Dipper’s spine. He should have known that Bill wouldn’t go into any situation where he didn’t hold the upper hand. And here they’ve been struggling and clawing and fighting tooth and nail for the tiniest scrap of information all without knowing they weren’t playing with a full deck. The anger that spreads through his skin is so strong it makes him nauseous as his flesh tingles and burns. Of course after everything they’ve tried Bill still has the upper hand. How did he ever think that the demon didn’t?

“We burned the graves.” Mabel says stubbornly but he can see the doubt creeping in, pushing aside the adrenaline that’s kept her on her feet and exhaustion starts to tug at her bones.

“Boy you sure are being dumb Shooting Star. I knew my little cult wouldn’t be able to do anything right, humans so rarely can, so I made sure that I had a backup in place. Burn all the graves you want kids, doesn’t change what I’m about to do.”

“There are still four days left on the countdown.” Dipper says through a dry throat.

“Well you know how impatient I am, Pine Tree. Why do tomorrow what you can do today?” Bill straightens up and takes a few steps out on the ice. “So is it eating you yet, Pine Tree? Are you dying to know how I rigged it?” Dipper grits his teeth. “Do you want me to tell you? You could try to figure it out yourself but you don’t have enough clues, Dipping Dot, I’ll be finished before you can.” He doesn’t want to give the demon the satisfaction but they need to know. If there’s any hope in stopping the demon made flesh they have to know.

“Regale us Bill,” he bites out sarcastically. “How did you fool the silly humans?”

“Aw Pine Tree I don’t think you mean that.”

“Fuck you Bill. Just tell me.” His hands are clenched at his sides.

“Oh alright. I have another three energy sources set up, the portal generator in the Shack, the one at the Falls, and the Bottomless Pit. I’m surprised you never realized that was an interdimensional portal, kid.” Bill shrugs and Dipper watches as he drags his cane through the snow. Bill’s a very expressive speaker in this body. He gestures widely with his arms, makes little half turns and twists, and waves his cane around as he talks. Dipper watches his cane closely.

“I guess I haven’t been putting my all in the mystery hunting lately.” He says and Bill traces his cane through the snow again, taking a step and straightening his jacket to disguise the movement. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Stanley tense too at the movement. Whatever Bill’s going to do he’s getting ready for it. He’s drawing symbols in the snow. “That’ll change after we stop you.” His fingers brush against the hilt of his dagger and he sees Mabel’s amulet start to glow, hears Stan sliding his brass knuckles on, and knows that Stanley is gripping his gun tightly.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Pine Tree? What’s it you usually say?” Bill taps his chin with exaggerated confusion before snapping his fingers. “Bring it on!” Bill grins a big toothy grin as his vessel's eyes glow yellow and sparks jump over his skin. They’re going to actually fight a demon. Dipper realizes vaguely. This might be the dumbest thing they’ve ever done or the most important. He’s not sure it matters at this point.


	14. (everything's) Ending

Mabel alternates from dodging blows and throwing fireballs at the demon. Bill laughs freely as she does so and she’s so, so tired of hearing that god damned laugh. She wants to rip his throat out. She yells and sends a wall of flame at the demon who deflects it with a pyre of his own.

“Come on Falling Star, I know you can do better than this. I taught you better.” His eyes glitter with amusement. “I’ve seen you glimmer, now I wanna see you shine.” Bill’s so distracted with her Mabel is allotted the carnal joy of watching Stan catch Bill across the cheek with his brass knuckles. The demon’s head whips to the side and Mabel could swear she hears the cheekbone fracture from across the ice. Stan doesn’t retreat fast enough though and with a flick of the demon’s wrist he goes flying. “Wow that hurt! Pain is still hilarious!” Bill spits a mouthful of blood out onto the snow before turning his gaze on Stan who is struggling to regain his footing in the snow.

“Do you ever shut up!?” Mabel screeches before she’s uprooting some of the trees from the surrounding forest and launching them at the demon. Her muscles are shaking and her stomach flops around uncomfortably. She’s probably using too much, even with an amulet, the human body has limits. An idea sparks to life in her mind. Limits that Bill now has as well. They can tire him out just like they did during the Bipper incident. Bill disintegrates the trees with a glance, ash spreading through the snow and turning it grey. She doesn’t waste time throwing spell after spell at him. Eventually he’ll have to tire.

* * *

Pacifica pulls back up to the Shack and feels the difference in the air immediately. The loose parts of her clothes start to flutter a little and a few small rocks are hovering an inch or two off of the ground. She curses and tosses the helmet as she runs up to the door and bursts through.

“McGucket? Candy? Grenda?!” She rushes into the gift shop and spots the vending machine hanging open and darts down the stairs behind it. The further down she gets the more the gravity starts to go wonky. Not nearly on the scale that it had been when Stanley Pines had come back through the portal, but enough that she kind of feels like an astronaut on the moon. She climbs out of the service elevator and follows the sound of frantic voices and electricity crackling. “Guys?!” She darts into the room with the portal generator. It looks surprisingly intact considering what Mabel had told her it looked like after Stanley had come through and is glowing a bright white.

“Pacifica!” Candy greets frantically.

“What’s going on? I thought you were taking this apart!”

“We were trying to, but it looks like Bill didn’t just use Gideon to get into the Bunker. They must have come down here and fixed the portal!” The Asian girl answers as McGucket scrambles over a control panel.

“They also whacked up the emergency shutdown!” Grenda adds. Pacifica's heart sinks.

“Okay, okay, McGucket, how can we help you get the manual override working again?”

“I don’t know if I can!” The old old man cries with obvious distress as he tries to correct the damage.

“Take a breath,” She orders the old man with steel in her voice. “And tell us what you need. We have to get that button working again.”

“Okay, okay…” He turns back to the panel with his shoulders set. Pacifica glances at the swirling vortex behind them. They have to shut it down.

* * *

Dipper can’t do much for the fight, he knows that, his magic isn’t as powerful as Mabel’s and he has what’s basically a pointy toothpick to a demon. He’s not a threat, not in the physical sense. But it doesn’t take long for Bill to get so distracted by Mabel, who is showing more magical prowess than Dipper even thought she was capable of, and the Stans that he’s able to get a good hard look at the symbols that Bill had been drawing in the snow. He may not have the pure power that Mabel does but he has his mind, and he has a knife. Dipper digs into the snow.

* * *

Her skin is starting to tingle with the familiar feel of burns. Mabel grits her teeth and keeps up her work, but Bill takes and returns everything she sends at him. At this rate she’ll pass out before the demon even breaks a sweat. She sways on her feet slightly and Bill tisks under his breath.

“You probably don’t want to overexert yourself too much there, Shooting Star. It would be a shame if you died of exhaustion before you got to watch me pull out your uncle’s intestines.” Bill takes a step closer and all Mabel has time to think is that he’ll touch her family over her dead body before a bright light is connecting with the demon’s side. Bill grunts as the light rips through him and Mabel turns wide eyes to see Stanley kneeling with his gun, barrel smoking. When the light clears Bill is still standing, although Mabel is unsure how.

A large hole has been ripped through the side of his borrowed body. His right arm and half of his torso is gone and Mabel watches as the blood just pours out of his body like an overturned bucket. His intestines and other organs hang from the wound and she swears she can see bones. Bill looks down at his side as the blood slops into the snow with thick wet sounds. He raises his left hand to touch the wound and for the first time Mabel is genuinely scared of him. His expression blackens as blood dribbles from his lips.

“I should have killed you forty years ago.” He snarls before he’s waving his hand at Stanley. Mabel tries to throw up a shield to protect her grandfather but he’s already being raised into the air and shooting back down. His body cracks through the thick ice and Mabel doesn’t even hesitate before she dives in after him with a cry.

The water is cold. So so cold as it engulfs her body. It’s so cold her skin goes numb and after a moment she can’t even feel her broken arm anymore. The chill makes her eyes ache as she searches for Stanley. She spots him, still sinking, and kicks her legs furiously as she tries to reach him. She reaches out her good arm and snags his collar and for a moment she thinks he’ll be to heavy for her to lift back to the surface. But she pumps some magic through her limbs and begins to kick her way back up to the ice. It’s not a quick process and each second she stays under makes it more difficult. Her lungs start to burn and her limbs are going numb. She kicks more furiously against the water and just when she thinks she’s going to give in, take a breath and let the water rush into her lungs, her head breaches the surface again.

Mabel takes a few gasping breaths as she drags Stanley’s head above the water and with her one good arm maneuvers him onto the ice before she crawls out of the water as well. If she thought she couldn’t be any colder she was very very wrong. The slight breeze in the still night makes her body shake and her teeth chatter so hard that she thinks they might break. Stanley is disturbingly still and quiet and she crawls over to his side.

“Stanley? Gramps? Lee!” She pounds a fist against his chest and that does the trick. Stanley grunts and awakens, coughing out the lake water from his lungs and gasping for breath. Her shoulders slump in relief.

“Oh, he’s still alive.” Bill’s voice freezes her more than the water leeching the warmth from her skin. Her head swivels around just in time to see the blast of energy crackling towards them. The world slows down. She knows she need to raise a shield but she’s never been the most skilled at that kind of magic and she’s never been able to erect a solid one in a split second, which is all she has before she and Stanley are dead.

* * *

“Mabel!” Dipper cries as she dives into the water after Stanley. For a handful of sickening minutes he’s sure that she’s not going to come back up and he rushes to help her. Bill knocks him back into the sow with a glance. Dipper grunts as he skids through the snow and turns his attention to the demon who’s touching his exposed organs with a look of fascination. Why stay in such a broken body? Dipper wonders as he gets to his feet again. When Bill had possessed his body just standard human exhaustion had forced him to leave, having a hole ripped through him and missing an entire arm should have been enough to force the demon to evacuate the meat sack. He doesn’t have a chance to think on it further as he spots Mabel breaching the surface of the lake, gasping for air, and dragging Stanley to the surface as well. “Mabel!” His chest swells in short-lived relief. Bill sneers at the pair across the ice and raises his one hand to send a blast of energy towards them. Dipper chants as quickly as he can, throwing up a barrier around the pair but a sinking in his gut tells him it’s not going to be enough. His hands burn as he works the spell, but the words are only halfway off his lips before the energy is connecting.

* * *

Mabel shields herself from the blast with her good arm. It’s not like it will do much but she cringes in on herself. She hears the magic connect but there’s no pain. Maybe she’s dead? She cracks her eyes open and wishes that had been the case. Grunkle Stan is smoldering where he’s standing in front of her and Stanley. He sways on his feet before dropping to his knees.

“Grunkle Stan!”

“Ford!” She and Stanley rush to him and Mabel can see the blood spreading over his white shirt. Her hands shake as she tries to peel back the fabric to get a better look at the damage. The wounds look like something was trying to bury its way into his skin, and the edges of the wounds are white and blistered with burns.

“Huh, that was a pretty effective barrier Pine Tree.” Bill addresses Dipper. “That should have ripped them all apart, molecule by molecule.” Mabel doesn’t hear her brother’s response through the static that starts to roar in her ears. She doesn’t know how she gets to her feet but when she does she starts walking towards the grinning demon. Her vision bleeds red around the edges and she can almost feel her skin stretching to accommodate the magic she’s pulling through her amulet. She doesn’t know if it hurts. Her one good hand is curled into a fist at her side while the other arm hangs loosely. Bill turns his attention to her but it’s too late. She’s going to rip that smile from his face.

* * *

Dipper doesn’t even recognize his sister anymore. As Stan lays bleeding in the snow, and please please don’t let him be dead,  a look so black and hateful fills her face that it contorts into some kind of snarling monster that he thinks children would have nightmares of. She’s in front of Bill faster than he can blink and her entire body glows with her fury. Bill doesn’t even have the chance to get a smartaleck remark in before she’s digging her fingers into his wounds and tearing out several feet of his intestines with a snarl. Bill tries to retreat slightly but she stays right on top of him, hand awash with flames as she tears at his flesh.

“Come on Falling Star, I know you can do better than that.” Mabel doesn’t let Bill say anything else, shoving her hand into his sneering mouth and taking a tight hold of his tongue before tearing it out. He still manages to laugh with his mangled mouth. Mabel doesn’t say anything, just shrieks like a harpy ash she tries to take him apart. Bill knocks her back with a quick blow before retreating into the center of the symbols that he’d drawn earlier. His sister pursues him like a thing from nightmares and he couldn’t be more impressed.

* * *

Bill sways on his borrowed feet as he stumbles away from Mabel. She’s more powerful than he’d thought she’d ever become. He grins with his borrowed mouth and blood oozes from his teeth. He’s so glad he gets to see her baptized in blood. He almost thought the day would never come. She’s always tried to keep her darkness so carefully locked inside, to make sure that she didn’t let it seep out and poison her family. Now its on full display and he couldn’t be more proud of his Falling Star. Bill cringes as he stumbles. The tenuous connection keeping him grounded in this meat is wavering more by the second. He tries to keep a tight hold on the dying flesh. He can’t leave the clumsy injured thing just yet and he forces the muscle lump stuttering in his chest to keep moving. It has to keep moving if he wants to stay in this realm. It has to keep beating if he’s going to win.

* * *

Dipper crashes into his sister and holds onto her arm tightly as she rounds on him. For a split second he thinks she’s going to attack him too before she just sneers at him and jerks her arm out of his grasp.

“What are you doing?” She snarls.

“I need you to activate the runes, I’ll keep Bill occupied, but you have to open that portal.” He hisses back urgently.

“Are you fucking crazy? That’s exactly what we’ve been trying to stop!”

“Trust me!” Mabel is still looking at him like he’s insane and wow, isn’t that a look with her soaked through and covered in bruises and blood, but she doesn’t hesitate when she nods.

“I trust you.” Dipper runs towards the demon who's finally starting to look weary. He tackles Bill out of the circle and raises his dagger to the demon’s throat. the body is too damaged for the host to ever return so he doesn’t hesitate in sliding the blade through the soft flesh of his skin. The pale flesh bubbles and blackens along the edge of the wound and Bill hisses, although his mouth doesn’t move.

“Come on Pine Tree, what do you think you’re doing?” Bill shoves him off and gets back to his feet and Dipper is stunned from the combination of being blasted back by a blow to his ribs and the fact the demon is still able to speak without using his vessel's tongueless mouth. He doesn’t have time to scramble to his feet before Bill is knotting his one remaining hand in the front of his shirt and yanking him up by his collar. His eyes burn brightly as he stares down at the human and Dipper adjusts his grip on the dagger. “Vos volo ut oscularetur, Pinus!” He says with a voice all his own, only moving his borrowed mouth to give Dipper a crimson grin. His breath wafts over his face and turns his stomach sour with the stench of blood and death. Dipper bares his teeth at the demon before spitting,

“Cur non facere vobis?” Bill laughs and it’s a chilling sound before he smashes their mouths together. Blood slickens Dipper’s lips and he feels like he’s going to vomit. He grasps the dagger as tightly as he can before thrusting it through the demon’s temple. Bill howls and releases him as he stumbles back. Dipper loses hold on the dagger and darts away from the demon. There’s only one last thing to try.

* * *

Mabel gets into the circle of runes and immediately feels the energy from the three existing portals pulling at her flesh. For a moment she thinks she’ll be torn into pieces but she takes a deep breath and concentrates. She coils the power around her into a tight knot and holds on as she tries to weave the invisible strands together. Wind roars around her, sending her short blood matted and partially frozen hair stinging her cheeks and shoulderblades. The skin on her hands begins to blister as she tries to focus. Everything hurts. The pressure increases and she drops to her knees under the weight. Her eyes focus on the runes around them and as she does so they begin to glow the same pink as her amulet. She can feel the gem growing hotter and hotter in her hair and she wonders if it will burn her. That’s just what she needs. To get a bald spot in the middle of the apocalypse. The wind swirls in a constant loop around her as the light of the runes grows and grows until it’s just a blinding white. She can’t even see Dipper anymore.

Her ears begin to ring as the wind sweeps upwards and she sees the pillar of light extend skyward.  She hears something crack and falls completely into the snow, curled so she’s lying half on her side in the snow, as the weight increases and her skin screams with pain. The runes begin to move upwards, condensing the white light as they move towards the top of the pillar. She can see Dipper standing with Bill again as the light travels and stops obscuring her vision. The foul bastard has his mouth pressed against her brother’s and she wishes she had the energy to get up and rip out his heart. She gives a mental cheer when Dipper impales the bastard. The runes have reached the top of the pillar of light and begin to rotate rapidly in the air. Creating a vortex similar to the one from the Shack. The pull on her magic dissipates as it becomes self sufficient and Mabel drags herself up to her knees. Bill turns wide eyes to the portal and drops Dipper’s dagger into the snow.

“That’s not right...” he says mostly to himself. Mabel can see the blood still leaking from his wounds start to be sucked up into the portal and he makes an inhuman sound as he’s dragged towards the portal. “No! What did you do!?” He snarls at Mabel and fights the pull enough so that he can approach her. She doesn’t think she has enough energy to move let alone defend herself and fear rattles her bones.

“Bill!” Dipper calls to the demon who turns to look over his shoulder at the human. Dipper’s holding Stanley’s gun and he stares at the demon for several long heavy seconds. Bill’s eyes widen at the gun before he makes eye contact with Dipper from across the ice. A wide genuine smile stretches across the demon’s face.

“Not bad, kid.”

Dipper pulls the trigger.

* * *

The blast tears through what’s left of his human body and Bill spirals out of the flesh in his own form once again. The portal drags him upwards and he wonders exactly how Dipper was able to reverse its purpose. He’s not all that surprised to be entirely honest. Kid’s always been too clever for his own good. He can’t keep himself inside of this reality for much longer and he doesn’t have the power left to claw his way back into the Mindscape. Looks like he’s going for a ride. Bill stares down at the Pines, all looking up at him with blood streaked faces and varying degrees of horror. He could just let it go. They’ve earned it. But he has to give them one last fight.

“I’m sorry, Pine Tree.”  He doesn’t think Dipper will be able to hear him as he’s dragged through the portal but he sends one last blast of energy at the ground. His humans. His very favorites. And boy haven’t they been interesting?

* * *

As soon as the blast knocks Bill from his meat sack Dipper runs to Mabel’s side and kneels beside her. He puts his hands on her shoulders and both of their skin is so cold he can’t really detect a difference in temperature. She leans her head against his shoulder and he notes that there’s a thin fracture inside of the amulet. Bill is yanked upwards into the vortex and Dipper watches as he goes.

“Can you shut it?” He asks Mable over the roar of the portal. She gives a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Nope.”

“Oh... well. Guess it wasn’t such a good plan.”

“It was a terrible plan. I’m never listening to your plans again, bro bro.” They stare up at the vortex and link their fingers together. A beam  of energy shoots down towards them and they hold on tight as it shatters the ice with a loud crack. Dipper doesn’t even have time to breathe before they’re going under.

* * *

The portal is starting to hiss and crackle with energy and Pacifica covers her head and darts a little further way to avoid getting zapped. She hears Candy shriek as she dives to the floor to avoid being hit by debris. McGucket makes a triumphant sound as he works.

“Please tell me that means you fixed it?!” She screams over the noise.

“I got it! Girls, come help me turn the keys!” Candy and Grenda rush to his side and yank the keys into the correct position. An alarm sounds as the shutdown button is revealed with a dull hiss of smoke. Pacifica races over to it and grips the metal stand tightly to keep from floating away. She sneers at the portal as she brings her hand down on the red button. This is all so fucking stupid.

* * *

There’s the hot sting of flesh-against-flesh which rouses Dipper out of the blackness he’d fallen into. He coughs and gasps and his throat feels raw. His vision spins as he opens his eyes and after a long moment he locates his ears and sound starts to filter in.

“If you don’t get up this very minute I will throttle your corpse, Dipper, I swear it. You wake up! Wake up right now!”

“Mabel?” He tries to sit up but his sister makes a breathless sound of joy and throws her weight over his chest as she clutches at him tightly with her unbroken arm. He grunts as his he curls his arms around her back. Everything hurts. “What happened?”

“We went through the ice.” She tells him as she helps him sit up. He looks around and spots Stanley pressing his coat rightly to Stanford’s chest. Grunkle Stan is propped up against a tree and Dipper can see his shallow breaths puff out into the air in tiny clouds of white. The old man gives him a small tired grin.

“You okay kid?” His voice is low and weak. “You had us scared for a minute. Weren’t breathing.” Mabel helps Dipper over to the adults and they kneel next to them. Mabel laces her fingers together with Stan’s and his grip is weak.

“Yeah well you should be more worried about yourself Grunkle Stan?” He croaks as he looks at the old man’s ashen face. There are tears sliding too hot down his frozen skin. Not Grunkle Stan. Not him.

“Come on kid, I’ll be fine. I’m always fine.” His words are almost a whisper as his eyes fall half shut. “You did good. Both of you. Saved the whole damn world. Better Mystery Twins than we ever were, isn’t that right Lee?”

“I don’t know, you were pretty awesome today yourself.” Stan gives a weak laugh.

“Dipper,” Mabel catches her brother’s attention before pulling her hand from Stan’s and crawling through the snow.

“What?” She grabs the strap sticking out of the snow and drags the pack into her lap. She pulls open the zipper and digs around within his backpack with greedy desperation. When her hand finds what she’s looking for she makes an awed, almost wounded sound. Mabel pushes the backpack away and stumbles back to her family members. She holds up the item and Dipper gives a breathless laugh. A human signal flare is clutched in her fist.  

“I can’t light it on my own.” Dipper tugs the plastic cap off and he strikes it as Mabel holds the flare steady. It bursts into flame and smoke billows out around them. Mabel tosses it a few feet away as the smoke rises rapidly in the sky.

“Help is coming Grunkle Stan. Just hang on.” He whispers in the quiet of the forest. Just hang on a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter to go. Thanks so much for everyone who's stuck with this story so far and supported this project, I hope that you stick around for parts 3 and 4


	15. Epilog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is that last chapter. Thank you so much to those of you who have continued to support this story over the past few weeks and for those of you who will continue to support this series in the future, it really means a lot to me.

**Four Weeks Later**

“Are you sure you don’t want to register for spring classes? Not even as a part-time student?” Mrs. Alma is a thin tan woman with dark eyes and black hair, and the smile she always wears on her face is so bright it rivals Mabel’s. “I’ve seen your file, Dipper, you’ve got a bright future in academia.”

“I’m sure, Mrs. Alma. We’re still finishing up rebuilding at the Shack and I want to be around to help.”

“Is your uncle still in the hospital?”

“Yeah, but Grampa Lee is bringing him home today.” He nods.

“Oh well tell Stanford that I wish him the best.” The woman presses a stamp to one of the forms that Dipper had brought her. He’s not surprised that she knows Stan. Gravity Falls is a small town. There aren’t many people who don’t know each other. “There you go, Dipper. You are officially dropped out of GFCC.”

“Thanks.”

“If you ever decide you want to come back just drop by, I’ll make sure to get you re-enrolled.”

“Thank you Mrs. Alma.”

“No problem, have a good day.”

“You too.” Dipper says over his shoulder as he heads out the office door. The sun is shining brightly enough that the chill of the January air doesn’t hit him too hard as he leaves the warm building. Dipper sighs and glances down at his phone. It’s only three in the afternoon.

“Dipper!” He looks up when he hears Candy call his name and smiles at her as she comes over.

“Hey,”

“Hello.” She greets cheerfully. “What are you doing here?”

“Just finalizing my dropout stuff before I leave tomorrow.” He shrugs. “What about you? Don’t you have class?”

“I can be a minute late, the professor always is.” She smiles at him. “Is the party still on?”

“Yeah, everyone’s going to start showing up at around eight.”

“Then I will see you at eight.”

“Okay, see you later Candy.”

“Bye bye.” She waves at him as she walks off and Dipper waves back before heading to the parking lot. No point in hanging around now.

* * *

“Get me out of this damn place Lee before I scream.” Stanley chuckles under his breath at his brother’s agitation.

“Alright, alright, the nurse said you can go, but you gotta let him wheel you to the door. It’s hospital policy.” Ford grumbles some more but submits to being forced into the wheelchair. “Hey, I brought something for you.” He drops the Mystery Shack gift bag on Ford’s lap and his brother reaches in with a scowl. After a moment his expression morphs into a smug smile as he laughs and pulls the fez from the bag before depositing it on his head.

“Ha, I’m back! Take me outta here Rogger!”

“It’s Ryan, Mr. Pines.” The nurse says in a thoroughly put-out manner as he wheels the old man through the halls.

“Whatever.” Stanley just laughs a little to himself as he follows close behind. As soon as Stanford is over the threshold of the entrance doors he’s jumping out of the chair and stretching. “Goodbye hospital food.”

“Come on, the car’s over here.” He knows better than to offer his stubborn brother a hand but he keeps a close eye on Stanford as they walk over to the car. Ford doesn’t wobble or seem to tire in the slightest and Lee’s pleasantly surprised with how thoroughly he’s been able to recover. It had been touch and go for a few nights after the portal. They climb in the car and Stan is just ranting about how sick and tired he was of hospital food and how he can’t wait to be back in the Shack and Lee doesn’t think he’s seen his brother this excited since he came back through the portal. He tightens his grip on the steering wheel a little.

“Lee, you okay? You’ve been way too quiet poindexter.”

“Yeah, I’m good.” He shoves thoughts of that rocky wasteland out of his head. There’s a beat of silence. “Hey Ford?”

“What?”

“I’m thinking of starting my research back up.” He watches Stan’s reaction out of the corner of his eye.  His brother snorts.

“Course you are, Lee. You talk to the kids? They’re definitely going to want in.”

“Yeah, Dipper’s heading to Brazil tomorrow afternoon for a couple of days to pick up a couple of rare books one of his contacts told him about.” He drums his fingers against the steering wheel nervously. “You okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Besides it’s not like you could stop the kid if you wanted too. He and his sister are more stubborn than the two of us put together.”

“You almost died Ford,” Stanley finally blurts. “Are you sure you want to keep doing this?”

“That’s what this is about? Remind me to whack you round the head when you’re not driving.” Stanford rolls his eyes. “My days of clocking monsters might be over but that doesn’t mean I’m useless. Once Mabel’s arm’s done healing I’m going to spend some time with her and her brother teaching them how to sock it to a Gremloblin. And then I’ll help out with whatever you’re working on poindexter.”  Stanley grins out the windshield as they drive on. “And you’re not staying anywhere but the Shack so don’t even go trying to find a place. Soos will survive without a break room.” He should have known Ford would be too stubborn to give up the life of adventure. Even if it does end up killing them both.

* * *

When Dipper gets back to the Shack only to find it disturbingly empty he heaves a long slow sigh before he heads back out the door and into the forest. There’s no more snow on the ground and the late afternoon sunlight filters through the bare tree branches and onto the hard earth. He walks for half an hour before he gets to the cave entrance. Sure enough Mabel is sitting on the dirt with her legs crossed. Her blue sling glitters in the sunlight from where she’s bedazzled it and he moves to sit beside her. The cave entrance no longer exists. After things had settled down they had come back to the caves and Mabel had collapsed the entire system. A proper burial and the only way to be sure that the Manituars couldn’t reap the benefits of killing their friend. He doesn’t greet her as they sit. For a long time they don’t say anything, they just stare at the wall of rocks and mourn the loss of the Multibear. Dipper’s not how long they sit together in the dirt but by the time mabel finally tugs on his hand and he helps her to get to her feet the sun is resting low on the horizon. They don’t start talking until they’re about five minutes from the cave.

“Did you finish packing?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna miss you.’ Mabel whines.

“I’m only gonna be gone for five days.”

“Five days is longer than we’ve ever gone without seeing each other.” Dipper opens his mouth to protest but realizes, somewhat shocked, that she’s telling the truth. They’ve always been by each other’s side.

“It’ll probably be good for us.” Doubt creeps into his tone.

“Maybe.” Mabel kicks the dirt. “I’m still gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.”

“You better.” She playfully bumps their shoulders together. “I’m pretty great.” Well. He can’t argue with her there.

* * *

Their friends start to arrive in the Shack at around eight and by eight thirty the entire building is filled with laughter. Stan is celebrating not being in the hospital anymore by trying to eat his body weight in junk and Lee is threatening to put him up as one of the trashy displays in the gift shop if he doesn’t slow down with McGucket snickering in the background. Soos, Wendy, and Grenda are battling it out for the high score on the pinball machine while Candy Pacifica and Mabel are looking at photos of Pacifica’s new apartment. For a split second, the smallest most insignificant moment, Dipper almost turns to say something over his shoulder. But then he remembers that there’s no one there. That they wouldn’t be having this party if he was still there. His hand comes up to touch the scar beneath his shirt but he shakes it off and goes to call next game on the machine.

* * *

Mabel frowns when she comes back into the living room only to find, or not find, Pacifica anywhere in sight. She goes over to Wendy and hardly has the chance to open her mouth before the older girl is answering her unspoken question.

“She went outside for some fresh air.”

“Thanks Wendy.” Mabel heads out the front door after shrugging her on her coat so that it drapes over her shoulders. She can’t wait for her arm to be healed enough to get this stupid cast off. Pacifica’s sitting on the porch steps when she comes out and with the sun gone the chill in the air has doubled from what it was that afternoon. Mabel plops down beside her and looks out at the dark treeline. “Why’d you come out here?”

“I just wanted to take a breather.” They sit quietly for a few moments and Mabel presses their thighs together.

“The stars are really bright tonight, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.” Pacifica says softly and the other girl turns to look at her.

“Hey look, I figured out something cool that I can do with my sling!” She sticks her hand into the pouch and extracts a handful of Starbursts. “It’s like a giant pocket! I have snacks, my phone, a tampon, some mascara, and a switchblade in here!”

“Really?” Pacifica sounds a little impressed and Mabel grins at her.

“Well I have some Starbursts and the switchblade in here. But food and things to stab people with are really the most important anyway.” That gets the blonde to laugh a little and the sound makes Mabel’s insides warm.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Let’s do this.” Pacifica says quietly.

“Do what?”

“This isn’t exactly how I wanted it to go, but you haven’t given me a lot of options.” Pacifica scowls at her and Mabel frowns. “All relationships end in one of two ways, you break-up or you die,” Mabel’s heart pops. She knew it. She knew that Pacifica had just been pretending to be fine after the entire Bill incident. She knew that asking her to put up with that kind of insanity was too much. She knew that the blonde wasn’t going to stick around after she’d had to risk her life like that. The panic bubbles up so quickly in her chest and her stomach twists so tightly that for a minute she thinks she’s going to have to vomit. “And I can’t control when the second one happens because, let’s face it, you’re stupidly wreckless. But I can control the first so it’s better to do this now rather than later.”

“Pacifica,” Her voice is a whimper and she feels tears welling in her eyes.

“Shush.” The blonde orders as she reaches into her pocket. “So I don’t care if this isn’t how I originally planned it, I’ve waited three months and I’m not waiting two to five more for you to get that cast off so I can do this properly. So deal with wearing it on the wrong hand because you are going to wear this ring and you are going to marry me, loser. I’m not giving you a choice.” Pacifica takes her uninjured right hand and slides the platinum engagement ring onto her ring finger. Mabel’s hand is shaking and Pacifica holds it tightly as tears slip down the younger girl’s cheeks.

“What?”

“You’re gonna marry me loser.” A long silence stretches out between them as Mabel registers that she hasn’t been dumped.

“Yes,” She throws her arm around Pacifica’s neck. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“I told you you were going to, ‘no’ wasn’t an option.” The blonde grumbles as she’s pulled in for a series of frantic little kisses. Pacifica finally cups Mabel’s face between her hands and holds her still so she can give her a long slow kiss that sends heat through mabel’s belly and makes her toes curl. “And I’m glad you liked the apartment because you’re moving in with me. And someday we’re going to have a nice house with a huge kitchen so you can bake all the cupcakes you want and two children that I’m going to let you spoil to death. Got it?”

“Yeah.” There are still tears falling down her cheeks but she’s grinning so hard she doesn’t think she’ll ever stop.

* * *

The next morning the Pines family is standing on the front porch as Dipper tosses his suitcase into the backseat of his car. There’s frost on the dead grass and his breath is exhaled in small puffs of white as he says goodbye to his family. Both Stans give him tight hugs and tell him to be careful, though Stanford adds that he should go to Rio for at least one party. Dipper rolls his eyes and says he’ll think about it. Mabel makes him promise that he’ll bring her back one of those dorky ‘My ___ went to Brazil and all I got was this stupid tee-shirt’ shirts to which he laughs and promises to look for one. Then he’s glancing at his watch and he knows he has to leave if he wants to make it to his flight.

Dipper drives down the still streets of Gravity Falls and looks around. It’s too early for most people to be up and the small town is even more quiet than usual. It almost looks abandoned. He passes the police station and tried not to think of the haunting he and Bill stopped during that first summer of friendly communication, and fails. It opens a floodgate but he’s okay. He lets himself think of the places that he and Bill went around town, lets himself think of all the time they spent together, lets himself think fondly of the demon, even if it’s just for a minute. He passes the bus stop that he and Mabel used to get on every year at the end of the summer with heavy hearts. His grip tightens a little on the steering wheel, one hand coming up to touch his arm where he knows Bill’s image is. He wonders exactly where that portal sent the demon before shaking his head like a wet dog to shed the melancholy. It doesn’t really matter. No matter what he’s sure of one thing,

“You’re going to be bored out there, Bill.” Dipper says the words in the quiet of the morning sunlight and without anyone to witness them they fade away forgotten as he crosses the town line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so that's it for part 2 of Signal Flares. Part 3 will be entitled Pocket Knife and is going to have Reverse!Pines, Mabcifica, Reverse!Billdip, and Reverse!Pinescest which I know won't be popular. It will either be one really really long one shot or a multi-chapter story. I'm going to work so that part 4 (titled First-Aid) can be read without reading Pocket Knife for those who strongly object to the themes of part 3. I hope that you enjoyed the end of Magnesium Flint and stick around for the rest of the series.  
> EDIT: Okay so I lied a little on accident. Pocket Knife is turning out to be a real beast and so much more is happening than I originally planned for and it's honestly looking like it's going to be the same length as Magnesium Flint and I don't know if it's going to be possible to skip over straight into First-aid anymore. Sorry about that but there’s a lot of important things going on that needed to be established before First-aid that pertain to developing friendships and just setting up for First-aid.


End file.
